LLBEARY 

or    TIIF. 

PRi:SJCETOX,  Hi.  J. 


DONATION   OF 

S  A  M  LI  K  L    A  G  N  K  W  , 

>y     H  II  1  1,  A  1>  K  1,  H  H  I  V.    PA. 

Letter 


No.  ^  / 


|j-        Case,   biv::;,-  -^S^ZjCII^ 

^~~^    _~— "•^-'-•— --'^e'*«u.™^=  £<^^^se' 


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in  2011  with  funding  from 

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HISTORY 


MORAVIAN    CHURCH 


PHILADELPHIA. 


(  Fao  Sunile  ) 


HISTORY 


MORAYIAN  '%K1W^R Gil 


PHILADELPHIA, 


ITS  FOUNDATION  IN  1742  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

COMPRISIXG    NOTICES,    DEFENSIVE    OF    ITS 
FOUNDER   AND   PATRON, 

COUNT  NICHOLAS  LUDWIG  VON  ZINZENDORFF. 

TOGETHER  WITH  AN  APPENDIX. 


ABRAHAM 'Fritter. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  HAYES  &  ZELL. 

185  7. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867, 

BY    HAYKS    A    ZELL, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


C.     SHERMAN     i     SON.     P  K  1  N  T  F.  E  S, 

19  Si.  J;inief  Si  red. 


TESTIMONIALS, 


Brother  Abraham  Ritter  submits  to  me  ttree  drawings,  •which 
he  intends  to  have  engraved  and  published,  as  illustrative  of  a  his- 
tory, which  he  is  writing,  of  the  Brethren's  Church  in  Philadelphia. 
I  have  carefully  examined  those  drawings,  and  have  no  hesitancy  in 
giving  this  assurance, — that  each  and  every  one  of  them  is  an  accu- 
rate and  faithful  representation  of  the  several  parts  of  the  several 
buildings  erected  by  the  United  Brethren  in  Philadelphia,  as  places 
of  worship,  for  the  residence  of  the  congregational  ministei",  and  for 
the  accommodation  of  such  of  the  brethren  and  sisters  as  business 
might  call  to  Philadelphia,  for  a  short  time.  Those  buildings  were 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  Race  Street  and  Moravian  Alley — now 
called  Bread  Street.  I  have  always  understood  that  these  buildings 
were  all  erected  about  the  year  1742 ;  and  I  know  they  were  taken 
down  in  1819. 

No.  1,  The  Exterior  of  the  Church,  and  the  Parsonage  attached, 
in  which  the  elders  of  the  Church  met  on  business,  and  in  which  there 
was  public  worship  and  congregational  meetings. 

No.  2,  represents  the  Lower,  or  Audience-Room,  for  public  wor- 
ship, in  the  same  Church ;  and 


VI  TESTIMONIALS. 

No.  3,  is  a  view  of  the  Upper  Room  or  Hall  of  the  old  Moravian 
Cliurch. 

JOHN  BINNS. 

Philadelphia,  July  9th,  1856. 


I  HAVE  examined  the  drawings  of  the  Interior  and  Exterior  of  the 
original  Moravian  Church  in  Philadelphia;  all  of  which — -having 
been  an  early  member,  and  regular  worshipper  in  the  said  building — 
I  am  happy  to  confirm  as  truthful  and  characteristic  recollections  of 
that  edifice. 

GEORGE  ESLER. 

Philadelphia,  Aug.  2Sth,  1S5G. 


PEEFACE. 


Were  it  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  writing  a  book, 
or  the  evaporative  fame  of  authorship,  the  contents 
of  this  volume  would  have  slept  in  the  unexplored 
bosom  of  its  fathers ;  yet  there  is  a  motive,  a  design, 
and  a  pleasure  in  the  research,  inasmuch  as  the 
lights  and  shades  of  antiquity  may  be  elicited  to 
refresh  the  memory  of  the  centenarian,  or  enlighten 
the  wonderings  of  the  satchelled  youth,  or  the  full- 
fledged  collegian. 

There,  is,  however,  in  this,  as  there  is  doubtless  in 
all  communities,  a  portion  of  our  race  for  whom  obli- 
vion would  seem  to  have  been  permitted,  who  pass 
every  yesterday  of  their  existence,  and  that  of  their 
ancestors,  as  though  Time  had  but  just  marked  their 
being,  and  the  "  everlasting  now"  was  the  necessary 
absorbent  of  all  that  life  holds  dear. 

'Tis  well,  however,  for  our  day  and  its  succession, 
that  the  germs  of  antiquity  ^oill  sprout,  from  time  to 
time,  and  bud,  blossom,  and  bloom,  under  the  fructi- 
fying influences  of  its  bedewing  patronage;  and  well, 
too,  for  history  and  its  cravings,  that  there  are  lovers 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

of  dusty  records,  prone  to  sweep  their  pages,  and  pre- 
sent and  compare  the  past  with  the  present,  by  the 
autographic  details  of  "  the  things  that  were." 

My  motive,  therefore,  is  to  gather,  from  the  dust 
of  obUvion,  the  atoms  of  a  venerable  centre,  re- 
mould the  dignity  of  an  ancient  pile,  and  present 
it,  its  constituents,  and  its  successors,  to  the  heirs 
and  representatives  of  their  early  fathers,  as  well  as 
to  the  antiquarian  spirit  of  the  present,  or  the  future 
age. 

My  design  is  to  call  up  the  spirit  of  our  fathers,  to 
chasten  our  own  waywardness,  to  simplify  our  man- 
ners, to  imbue  us  with  their  faith  and  faithfulness,  to 
qualify  our  practices — else  endangered  by  modernized 
Christianity — to  elasticize  a  more  apostolic  atmo- 
sphere, and  to  offer  St.  Paul's  call  upon  the  Philip- 
pians,  3  :  17,  "  Brethren,  be  ye  followers  together  of 
me,  and  mark  them  which  walk  so,  as  ye  have  us  for 
an  ensample." 

Although  considerably  beyond  the  meridian  of  life, 
I  have  abundant  cause  for  gratitude  to  my  merciful 
Providence,  for  the  freshness  of  all  my  faculties ;  my 
"  eye  is  not  satisfied  with  seeing,  nor  my  ear  with 
hearing ;"  hence,  a  retrospect  of  my  own  times,  and 
a  social  fondling  with  the  times  of  our  predecessors, 
is  a  pleasure  remunerative  in  its  issues,  and  suffi- 
ciently so  to  protect  me  from  the  charge  of  vanity, 
too  often  appurtenant  to  authorship. 

In  thus  offering  my  gatherings  to  the  public,  I  am 


PREFACE.  IX 

happy  to  say  that  they  are  neither  indebted  to  fancy 
for  lights,  nor  to  imagination  for  shades;  the  plain 
matter-of-fact  accompanies  the  representation  of  the 
origin  of  the  reminiscence,  and  the  attest  being  by 
two  competent  contemporaneous  eye-witnesses,  ought, 
at  least,  to  be  guarantees  for  credulity. 

Under  the  artistic  and  skilful  hand  of  our  towns- 
man, Mr.  Edward  F.  Durang — whose  ready  mind  and 
quick  conception  caught  up  my  dots  and  lines — 
memory  is  embodied,  and  speech  to  the  eye  enforced, 
from  the  fac  simile  of  a  speck  of  a  hundred  and  more 
years  ago. 

His  delineations  of  both  the  exterior  and  the  interior 
of  the  "  old  Moravian  Church,"  are  truthful  to  a  line ; 
which,  though  drawn  from  early  impressions,  deep- 
ened by  continuous  associations,  ripened  by  time,  and 
warmed  into  resuscitation  in  the  bosom  of  an  anti- 
quarian spirit,  are  still  the  accurate  architectural 
remodelling  of  his  hands,  graphic  beyond  cavil,  and 
fresh  as  to  an  eye-witness;  to  this  let  the  testimo- 
nials speak. 

The  portraits  of  the  bishops,  &c.,  are  equally  relia- 
ble, being  from  the  original  canvas  in  the  conserva- 
tory in  Herrnhuth. 

In  reference  to  my  review  of  the  letters  of  James 
Logan,  the  opinion  of  Kalm,  the  Swedish  traveller, 
and  their  indorsement  nearly  one  hundred  years  after 
their  date,  by  their  furtherance  to  posterity  in  the 
"Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  by  John   F.  Watson,  I 


PREFACE. 


have  but  to  remark,  that  the  indignity  inflicted  upon 
the  memory  of  Count  Zinzendorff,  his  highly  respect- 
able descendants,  and  the  spiritual  fruit  of  his  labors, 
ripe  and  ripening  to  Christian  perfection,  has  volun- 
tarily and  unprovokedly  thrown  off  the  mantle  of 
qualification,  bared  its  offensive  front  to  the  ad  libi- 
tum repulse  of  a  respectable  Christian  community, 
and  cannot  complain  if  severity  tips  the  thong  that 
reaches  the  source  of  the  evil. 

Yet  I  set  nothing  down  in  malice  -,  but  honest  Chris- 
tian zeal,  grown  to  an  extensive  evidence  of  good 
sound  sense — else  impugned — is  justly  entitled  to  a 
champion. 

For  the  rest,  I  offer  the  volume  as  a  link  of  time 
to  time,  and  perpetuity  to  the  manes  of  departed 
worth. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface, 0 

Introduction, 15 

CHAPTER  I. 

Some  account  of  Count  Nicholas  Lewis  von  Zlnzendorft",  and  the 

object  of  his  visit  to  to  America,  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

Watson's  Annals  versus  Zinzendorff,  and  defence  against  unjust 

accusations, 22 

CHAPTER  III. 

ZinzendorfTs  Hymnology  and  Talent  for  Poetry — Defence — Quali- 
fication, &c., '  ,  38 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Localie  of  the  Original  Moravian  Church,  and  Title  Brief  of  the 

Lot, 41 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Burial-Ground — Title — First  interments,  &c.  &c.,  ...  43 


XU  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Location  and  Description  of  the  Exterior — East  and  West  Fronts 

of  the  Church  Edifice, 49 

CHAPTER  VIL 
The  Parsonage — (Vide  Ground  Plan,  and  Interior  Arrangement).  52 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Lower  Audience  Chamber  of  the  Church  Proper  (see  dra^Ying 

annexed) — Organs — Organists  and  Organ  Builders,       .         .  55 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Description  of  the  Hall,  or  Upper  Chamber  (see  drawing) — Use  of 

the  Hall,  &c., 6.S 

CHAPTER  X. 
Front  Entrance — Garden, 67 

CHAPTER  XL 

The   Primitive  Opening  of  the  Church — Organization — Original 

Officers  and  Succession,  &c.  &c.,   ......  70 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Authorities  of  the  Church — Their  Source,  Order,  &c.,     .        .  74 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

4 

The  Finances  of  the  Church, 78 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Rev.  John  Meder,  with  a  Portrait — Costume  and  Classifica- 
tion of  His,  and  Earlier  Times  in  the  Church,         .         .        .  81 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

CHAPTER  XY. 

Chapel  Servants,  and  Biographical  Sketches — Inviters,  &c.  &c  ,    .  87 

CHAPTER  XVL 
The  Burial-Groiind — Order  of  Services,  &c.,  ....  49 

CHAPTER  XVIL 
The  Discipline, 97 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Pedelavium,  or  Washing  of  Feet,  .         .         .         .         .         .         103 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Holy  Communion — Kiss  of  Peace,  and  Doctrine  of  the  Sacra- 
ment,   ...........         105 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Liturgy,  or  Liturgies  and  Litanies,  .         .         .         .         .         113 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Lot, 118 

CHAPTER  XXIL 
Feasts  and  Fasts, 129 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Agapce,  or  Love-Feasts — Their  Origin — Continuance,  &c.,      .         141 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Dress,  and  Address  of  the  Early  Moravians, 145 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Music  of  the  Church,  and  Church  Choirs  in  General — Objec- 
tions, &c., 149 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

Churcli  History,  and  Succession  of  Officers  resumed  and  con- 
tinued,   160 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Destruction  of  the  Original  Building,  and  Erection  and  Description 

of  its  Successor, 168 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Interregnum — Demolition  of  the  Original  Parsonage,    .         .        .         173 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
The  Renewal — Change  of  Location,      ......        176 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Description  of  the  New  Edifice — Organ,  &c., 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Succession  of  Officers  continued — Incorporation,  &c., 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 


The  Episcopacy,  ....... 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Bishop  John  Amos  Comenius, 
Biography  of  Bishop  John  De  Watte ville, 

"  "       "       August  Gottleib  Spangeuberg, 

"  "       "       Peter  Boehler,       . 

"  "       "       Leonard  Dober,    . 

"  "      Rev.  Christian  David,  . 

"  "  Bishop  David  Nitchman, . 

"  "  Erdmuth  Dorothea,  Countess  of  Zinzendorff, 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Conclusion — Table  of  the  Episcopate,  &c.,     . 


179 


184 


198 
194 
196 
200 
204 
207 
210 
214 
217 


CONTENTS.  XV 


APPENDIX. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  Glimpse  of  tbe  Early  Settlement,  or  Immediate  Environs  of 
the  First  Moravian  Church,  with  Recollections  of  the  Tenants 
in  Common  of  that  and  after-times,  ft-om  the  Church  to  Second 
Street,  and  southward  to  the  west  side  of  Drinkers  Alley,  and 
northward,  east  side,  to  the  Southeast  Corner  of  Second  and 
Race  Streets,  with  some  Account  of  John  Stephen  Benezet,  and 
family, ............         233 

CHAPTER  II, 

Continuance  of  Comparative  View,  from  the  Southeast  Corner  of 
Second  and  Race  Street,  East  and  West  Side  of  Second  to  New 
Street,  and  North  Side  of  Race  to  Third  Street,  .         .        .         24-i 

CHAPTER  III. 

From  Third  and  Race,  northward,  to  New  Street,  and  returning, 

West  Side,  to  Race  Street, 2o5 

CHAPTER  IV. 


White  Swan — Race  above  Third,  and  Third  below  Race  Street — 
Frederick  Beates,  Andrew  Leinau,  Jacob  Mayland,  &c., — and 
Race  Street,  eastward  to  the  Church, 259 

CONCLUSION. 

A  Stray  Chapter,  comprising  a  View  from  Second  to  Front,  In 
Race  Street,  and  a  Review  of  Second  Street  from  Drinker's  Alley 
to  Arch  Street,  and  back  unto  Biographia  of  some  of  the  Life 
of  that  Section, 2G7 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


1.  Count  ZinzendorfF,     ..... 

2.  Ground  Plan, 

3.  The  Original  Cliurcli  of  1742,    . 

4.  The  same,  with  the  Parsonage  of  174G,     . 

5.  Inteiior  of  the  Lower  Audience  Chamber, 
().  Interior  of  the  Upper  Chamber  or  "  Hall," 
Y.  Portrait  of  Rev.  John  Meder,    . 

8.  "         Jacob  Rlttei',  Senior, 

9.  "         Zachariah  Poulson,  the  Elder, 

10.  "         a  Moravian  Sister  in  Costume, 

11.  Church  and  Parsonage  of  1820, 

12.  Portrait  of  Wm.  H.  Van  Vleck, 

13.  Church  of  1856,  and  Burial-Ground  of  1757, 

14.  Portrait  of  Bishop  John  Amos  Comenius,  . 

15.  "  «       John  De  Watteville,      . 

l(j.  "  "       -A-ug.  Gottlieb  Spangenberg, 

17.  "  "       Peter  Boehler,      . 

18.  ''•  "       Leonard  Dober,     . 

19.  "         Missionary — Christian  David,    . 

20.  '•'  "       David  Nitchman, 

21.  "         Erdmuth  Dorothea,  Countess  Von  Z 


inzendorff. 


FUONTISPIECE. 

41 

49 

52 

55 

68 

81 

89^ 

91 

145 

168 

172 

176 

194 

19G 

200 

204 

207 

210 

214 

217 


INTRODUCTION. 


If  Time  disaggregates  material,  it  does  not  deny  a  com- 
pensatory medium  to  the  association  of  the  past  with  the 
future ;  nor  can  it,  for  if  even  records  fail,  Memory,  in- 
vigorated by  age,  and  strengthened  by  exercise,  comes  to 
the  rescue,  lights  up  the  past,  and  rejuvenates  amongst 
the  ruins,  or  their  shades,  of  the  wisdom  of  our  early 
fathers ! 

History  is  the  handmaid  of  Time.  But  for  it,  the  things 
that  were,  would  be  smothered  in  the  dust  of  oblivion,  or 
their  manes  scattered,  to  be  gathered  only  by  the  already 
impervious  cloud  that  hangs  tauntingly  over  the  past ; 
hence,  to  link  time  to  time,  and  gather  up  the  crumbs  of 
its  early  forbearance,  I  venture  upon  the  ocean  of  recol- 
lection, and  offer  from  its  bosom  the  floating  compo- 
nents of  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  dignity  of  its  day  ! 

My  object  is  not  merely  to  amuse  with  flights  of  fancy, 
or  tints  of  fitful  imagination,  but  in  very  truth  and  sober- 
ness, to  tax  the  throne  of  observation,  call  up  the  ener- 
gies of  reflection,  and  present  the  fruits  from  memory's 
grafts  as  nursed  and  nurtured  by  the  irrigation  of  tradi- 
tion, as  well  as  from  the  garner  of  winnowed  gatherings. 
But  Data,  too,  are  before  me,  and  Records  are  imperious  ; 
but  Memory — jealous   of    its   prerogative-^may  not   be 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

impugned,  seeing  that  contemporaneous  attest  confirms 
its  portrait. 

The  First  Moravian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  even  then 
a  colony  of  Great  Britain,  is  certainly  not  the  least  of 
her  sisters  in  our  great  city's  ancient  landmarks ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  has  indubitable  claims  to  a  respectful 
reference,  as  well  for  her  unpretending  structure,  as  such, 
as  for  the  labors  of  her  love  as  a  pioneer  in  the  vine- 
yard of  Him,  who  commanded  his  disciples  to  go  and 
work  in  it. 


HISTORY 

OF 

THE  MORAVIAN  CHURCH 

IN    PHILADELPHIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Right  Rev.  Nicholas  Lewis  von  Zinzendorff— Some  account  of  the 
object  of  his  visit  to  America. 

Amongst  the  annals  of  1742,  the  debut  of  Count  Zin- 
zendoriF  to  this,  from  foreign  climes,  may  not  be  con- 
sidered the  least  of  the  events  of  that  day. 

He  came,  not  as  a  mere  adventurer,  not  as  a  time- 
killing  wanderer,  nor  as  a  visionary  fanatic,  to  gratify 
a  morbid  appetite  for  fame,  but  to  give  vent  to  the 
abundance  of  his  heart  in  another  sphere,  and  under  the 
impulse  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  far  as  in  him  lay, 
further  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  plant  his  faith  as  a 
grain  of  mustard-seed,  and  water  it  with  the  dews  of 
prayer  and  supplication. 

This  gentleman  was  the  son  of  George  Lewis,  Count 
ZinzendoriT,  and  born  in  Dresden,  on  the  26th  of  May, 

aIdTitoo.        ' 


His  father  was  a  premier  of  the  court  of  Saxony,  but 
wittial  apious  and  devoted  servaiit  of  God,  a  member  of 

C 2 —  r        __ 


fl 


18  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

the  Lutheran  Church;  and  his  son  was  baptized  in  that 
faithj_but  subsequently,  about  A.D.  iT^Bj^became  one 
of  four  United  Brethren,  at  Berthelsdorf ;  and  on  May 
12th,  1724,  was  present  at,  and  took  part  in  laying  the 
corner-stone  of  the  church  at  Herrnhuth. 

Although  much  engaged  in  temporal  affairs,  he  de- 
voted all  his  leisure  to  the  cause  of  his  Divine  Master ; 
serving  in  and  out  of  the  Church,  wherever  and  in  what- 
ever precept,  example,  counsel,  or  exhortation,  could  be 
beneficially  applied.  But,  in  order  to  further  his  useful- 
ness— being  fully  prepared— ^lie  applied  for  ordination, 
and  A.D.  1734,  was  ordained,  and  enter_ed,as__gne  of  the 


vO  v^  f>  ministryof  the  Moravian  Churcli. 
v>^  j^     ^  In  1737,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  the  Church,  by 

^/  -\^  the  Bishops  Daniel  Ernst  Jablousky,  and  David  Nitcli- 
man7and  by  consent  and_j)iroxy  of  Bishop  Sitkovius,  of 
LissaTm  Poland,  who  writes,  that  "  He  would  not  only 
gladly  and  willingly  contribute  his  vote  in  writing  to  the 
proposed  ordination  of  the  Count,  but  though  absent,  yet 
present  in  spirit,  instead  of  the  imposition  of  his  hands, 
would  confirm  it  with  his  own  handwriting  and  signa- 
ture," &c.  &c. — Spangenberg's  Life  of  Zinzendorff,  p. 
233. 

"  His  ecclesiastical  functions  were  Bishop,  Advocate, 
Ordinary,  and  Representative,  with  full  powers,  of  the 
Church  of  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren,  adher- 
ing to  the  Augsburg  Confession." — Latrobe's  Preface  to 
Spangenberg's  Life  of  Zinzendorff,  p.  vi. 

Notwithstanding  the  advantages  of  his  birth,  education, 
associations,  and  wealth,  his  single  eye  to  the  glory  of 
God,  forgetting  those  things  that  were  behind,  he  reached 
forth  unto   those  things  that  were  before,  and  like  the 


IN    nilLADELPHIA.  19 

great  Apostlo,  pressed  toward  the  mark  of  his  caUing  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  to  this  end,  laying  off  his  epis- 
copal honors  for  a  season,  he  came  forth  from  home,  as 
an  Ordinarius,  with  a  few  followers  of  a  like-minded  mis- 
sionary spirit,  to  reach  and  teach,  to  gather  and  instruct 
his  scattered  German  brethren,  as  also  the  Indians  in 
North  America,  becoming  "  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he 
might,  by  all  means,  save  some." 

He  arrived  in  Kew  York,  in  th^monthjof  November, 
1741 ;  whence,  after  visiting  some  friends  in  Long  Island, 
whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  in  St,  Thomas,  he  came 
to  Philadelphia,  where,  after  being  the  guest  of  the  late 
venerable  John  Stephen  Benezet  (of  whose  pedigree  more 
in  the  Appendix),  he  hired  a  house,  in  which  he  held 
regular  religious  services  for  his  immediate  adherents, 
and  any  others  who  might  feel  inclined  to  avail  them- 
selves of  these  means  of  grace. 

In  advance  of  this,  however,  he  wrote  to  Gov.  Thomas, 
of  the  Province,  requesting  him  to  send  some  one  who 
was  acquainted  with  both  English  and  German,  to  be 
present  at  his  meetings,  in  order  to  test  his  orthodoxy 
and  avert  suspicion  of  his  purpose ;  thus,  showing  him- 
self freely  subject  to  the  powers  that  be. 

Having  preached  in  various  places,  but  for  a  season 
located  in  Germantown,  in  and  about  Philadelphia,* 
he  settled  down  for  the  Lutherans,  whose  pastor  he  con- 
tinued to  be  for  about  nine  months  ;  but  differences  of 
opinion  arising  between  him  and  them,  or  some  of  them, 
he  withdrew  from  their  service,  and  with  thirty-four  of 
his  adherents  formed  the  Moravian  Society,  according  to 

*  See  Life  of  ZinzendorfF  by  the  Rev.  August  Gottlieb  Spaugenberg,  pub- 
lished in  London,  1838. 


20  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

their  original  tenets  ;  which  gave  rise  to  the  edifice,  long 
since  scattered  in  atoms,  but  now  to  be  represented  in 
its  original,  simple,  and  unpretending  form,  feature,  and 
expression. 

It  is  not,  however,  my  purpose  to  write  the  Life  and 
Character  of  Zinzendorff:  that  is  already  before  the 
world,  from  abler  hands,  and  which  has  furnished  me 
with  the  foregoing  portrait,  besides  abundant  rebutting 
evidences  against  the  aspersions,  misconceptions,  and 
misconstruction  of  his  religious  zeal ;  nor  can  I  conceal 
my  pleasure,  in  the  opportunity  thus  offered,  to  meet  the 
objections  of  James  Logan,  Kalra,  and  others,  as  set  forth 
in  Watson's  Annals ;  as  well  as  mj  grateful  emotions  in 
being  one  of  the  many,  permitted  to  lodge  in  the 
branches  of  the  tree  of  his  planting,  and  to  enjoy  the  fra- 
grance of  its  fruitful  bearing;  not,  however  as  a  bigot  to 
sectarianism,  nor  an  exclusive  to  any  other  Christian  de- 
nomination ;  for  God  hath  said  from  the  beginning :  "In 
all  places  where  I  record  my  name,  I  will  come  unto 
thee,  and  I  will  bless  thee"  (Exod.  20,  24) ;  and  that  he 
has  recorded  that  Holy  llTame  "  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun,  even  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same,"  where 
"  incense  is  offered  as  a  pure  offering,"  is  even  now  a 
glorious  testimony  to  the  infallibility  of  his  word,  Christi- 
anity itself  being  the  pure  offering,  differing  in  form,  but 
not  in  fact ;  not  in  the  incense,  but  in  the  censer  only, 
that  wafts  it  to  the  throne  of  his  acceptance ;  "  for  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the 
mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation."  (Romans  10: 
10.) 

In  advance,  however,  of  my  history,  it  will  be  but  com- 
mon justice  to  its  origin,  to  brush  from  the  skirts  of  Zin- 


IN    PlIILADELnilA.  21 

zendorfF  the  spots  and  the  wrinkles  blemishing  his  fair 
fame, — there  placed  by  those  who  could  not,  or  would 
not,  understand  him  ;  and  whilst  I 

"  Their  unlucky  deeds  relate, 
Shall  nothing  extenuate, 
Nor  set  down  aught  in  malice," 

but  with  honest,  yet  earnest  candor,  offer  a  palliative  to 
the  opprobrium,  and  a  shield  to  the  thrusts,  so  unjustly, 
if  not  wantonly,  aimed  at  his  character  for  purity  and 
good  behavior. 


22  HISTORY    OF   THE    MOKAVIAX    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  n. 

Watson's  Annals  versus  Count  Zinzendorff,  and  defence  against  unjust 
accusations. 

As  History  is  the  handmaid  of  Time,  Time  ought  to  be 
a  veracious  chronicler,  not  only  of  matters  and  things,  but 
of  men  and  manners  ;  and  when  this  handmaid  offers  her 
gatherings,  it  is  but  meet  that  she  should  do  so  well 
savored  with  civility  in  the  preparation  for  the  great 
public  ordinary. 

Men  and  manners  are  important  items  in  history, 
tenacious  of  their  due,  and  jealous  of  an  unbiassed 
furtherance  to  future  generations ;  because  far  and  wide 
goes  their  fame,  and  whether  for  good  or  evil,  an  indelible 
impression  either  wrinkles  or  tints  the  memory  of  the 
subject  portrayed. 

"Watson's  Annals  is  a  very  laudable  enterprise,  and  of 
deservedly  popular  issue.  It  has  also  taken  its  place  in 
the  hibUotheque  of  the  literati,  and  holds  the  praise  or 
the  censure  of  many  of  "  such  as  were  ;"  amongst  whom 
the  founder  and  patron  of  the  original  Church  of  the 
Moravian  Brethren  in  Philadelphia,  seems  not  to  have 
been  sufficiently  popular  for  the  author's  reasonably 
liberal  or  even  qualified  estimate.  And  I  must  declare  in 
the  outset,  that  had  Mr.  Watson  taken  half  the  pains  to 
cater  for  Zinzendorff,  that  he  did  for  James  Logan  and 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  23 

others,  the  contrast  would  have  been  less  oifensive  to  his 
followers,  and  more  creditable  to  the  author. 

On  page  541,  vol.  i,  after  announcing  the  arrival  of  the 
Count,  and  dipping  him  at  once  into  a  "  pool"  of  doubtful 
reputation  for  sanity,  and  reviewing  him  at  least  as  an 
oddity,  Mr.  "Watson  offers,  in  confirmation,  a  letter  from 
him,  of  1741-2,  to  the  parents  of  some  young  females  of 
his  congregation,  who  were  evidently  opposed  to  his  mi- 
nistration, as  well  as  to  the  adhesion  of  their  daughters  to 
his  spiritual  guidance. 

"  To  THE  Cooper,  F.  Vende,  Germantown. 

"  I  take  you,  both  man  and  wife,  to  be  notoriously  chil- 
dren of  the  devil,  and  you,  the  woman,  to  be  a  twofold 
child  of  hell ;  yet  I  would  have  your  damnation  as  tolera- 
ble as  possible.  The  laws  provide  against  such  unreason- 
able parents,  and  will  not  suffer  you  to  keep  your  daughter 
against  her  consent.  You  may  vex  her  soul,  if  that  seven- 
fold devil  which  possesseth  you  will  permit.  Then  consider, 
and  leave  your  daughter  to  the  congregation." 

Again,  to  Neuman,  he  writes  : 

"In  case  you  die  without  forcing  your  daughter  away, 
your  former  sin  shall  be  forgiven  you  ;  but  if  you  resume 
your  murdering  spirit  against  her  soul,  by  her  consent  or 
not,  I  recall  my  peace,  and  you  I  leave  to  the  devil ;  and 
the  curse  of  your  child — thereby  lost — shall  rest  on  you 
till  she  is  redeemed.     Amen." 

Watson  adds :  "  This  is  really  very  curious  supremacy, 
as  well  as  theology.  Miss  L.  and  Miss  V.,  much  against 
the  will  of  their  families,  went  off"  to  Germany." 

Differing  with  Mr.  "Watson  in  his  conclusions,  it  is  but 
common  justice  to  the  author  of  this  "  curiosity,"  to  con- 


24  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

sider  his  position  as  the  father  of  a  Christian  gathering, 
his  jealous  care  of  his  converts,  "  his  enthusiasm  in  the 
cause  of  his  Master,  common  to  almost  every  soul  at  its 
relief  from  the  burden  of  sin,"  the  spirited  zeal  of  the 
man,  and  the  forceful  idiom  of  his  native  tongue.  The 
*' supremacy,"  I  presume,  consists  in  the  strength  of  his 
language. 

The  German  language  is  as  forceful  as  it  is  comprehen- 
sive. Its  imprecations  can  be  concentrated,  and  spent  in 
powerful  issues,  and  the  severity  of  its  denunciatory 
powers  reach  the  lethargy  of  its  subjects.  But  deep  as  may 
be  the  infliction  upon  his  sensibilities,  his  accustomed  ear 
would  not  writhe  at  the  application ;  whereas  literally  given 
in  English,  trained  to  the  sound  and  sense  of  its  own 
vocabulary,  the  hearer  or  reader,  ignorant  of  the  German 
idiom,  might  think  it  harsh,  and  perhaps  irreconcilable 
to  his  own  mode  of  expression  ;  and  this  I  suppose  to  be 
the  cause  of  Mr.  Watson's  view  of  the  Count's  supre- 
macy. 

The  pastor  spoke  from  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  impelled 
by  the  jealousy  of  his  zeal,  and  strove  against  the  temporal 
power,  that  he  thought  was  infringing  or  annulling  his 
spiritual  gains.  He  spoke  in  the  tongue  best  intelligible 
to  his  opponents ;  their  own  native,  comprehensive,  and 
comprehensible  idiom,  which  to  them  doubtless  was  less 
curious  than  impressive. 

His  theology,  however,  is  even  less  vulnerable,  for 
although  its  curiousness  appears  to  be  derived  from  the 
application  of  terms,  yet  its  defence,  or,  at  least,  its  paral- 
lel, offers  itself  in  Holy  Writ : 

"Woe  unto  you.  Scribes,  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye 
compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  when 


IN   PHILADELPniA.  25 

he  is  made,  ye  make  him  twofold  more  the  child  of  hell 
than  yourselves."  So  said  our  Saviour  (Matthew  23  :  15) 
to  the  opponents  of  his  work. 

And  of  St.  Paul  (Acts  13 :  8,  9,  10)  having  an  untoward 
subject  before  him,  we  read  thus : 

"But  Elymas,  the  sorcerer,  withstood  them,  seeking  to 
turn  away  the  deputy  from  the  faith." 

"  Then  Paul,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  set  his  eyes 
on  him,  and  said,  O  full  of  all  subtlety  and  mischief,  thou 
child  of  the  devil !  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness  !  wilt 
thou  not  cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord  ? 
And  now,  behold,  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  be  blind,  not  seeing  the  sun  for  a  season." 

Without  making  a  St.  Paul  of  our  Zinzendorfi',  though 
he  may  have  been  as  good  a  man,  it  certainly  will  not 
be  any  strain  of  the  point,  to  place  them  upon  the  same 
footing  in  their  mission,  and  accord  to  them  equal  indul- 
gence in  their  mode  or  language  of  rebuke  to  untoward 
subjects.  Argument  will  scarcely  be  necessary  to  obtain 
this  concession.  "We  may,  therefore,  ask,  wherein  con- 
sists "the  curious  supremacy  and  theology"  of  Zinzen- 
dorfi''s  German,  more  than  in  St.  Paul's  Greek  ? 

But  if  language  equally  severe  has  sped  from  the  pulpit 
of  our  day,  why  marvel  at  the  issues  of  a  century  ago ! 

A  very  venerable  and  pious  herald  of  the  Cross,  within 
this  century,  rang  the  welkin  of  old  "  St.  George's,"  in 
JSTorth  Fourth  Street  of  our  city,  with  the  most  powerful 
invectives  against  sin  and  sinners,  and  once  said  that 
"  Some  of  them  would  not  believe,  unless  they  were 
shaken  over  the  pit  of  hell." 

Now,  although  these  exemplars  may  be  deemed  want- 
ing in  refinement,   yet  we   should  remember  that  the 


26  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

obduracy  of  the  natural  man  cannot  always  be  impressed 
by  tbe  etiquette  of  parlor  politesse  ;  and  whilst  some  may 
be  successfully  chastised  with  whips,  others  require  scor- 
pions ! 

We  next  come  to  Kalm,  the  Swedish  traveller,  whose 
ipse  dixit  Mr.  W.,  p.  542,  same  volume,  thus  offers : 

"  Kalm,  the  Swedish  traveller,  here  in  1748,  says, 
'  His  uncommon  behavior  here,  persuaded  many  English- 
men of  rank,  that  he  was  diseased  in  his  head.'  " 

The  total  absence  of  the  consideration  for  this  allusion, 
renders  the  whole  paragraph  nugatory,  and  not  available 
to  any  adverse  conception  ;  but  as  we  have  positive  testi- 
mony to  the  contrary,  it  will  be  but  due  to  his  character 
to  give  it. 

Nor  is  it  a  little  remarkable  that  the  venerable  Span- 
genberg,  his  contemporary  and  biographer,  had  unwit- 
tingly anticipated  a  direct  provision  for  such  an  assump- 
tion in  his  intercourse  with  Zinzendorff  and  his  friends, 
twelve  years  before  "Kalm's  Report,"  to  wit,  in  1736. 

On  page  217  of  "  Spangenberg's  Life  of  Zinzendorff," 
speaking  of  his  sojourn  in  Revel,  in  Russia,  he  writes: 
"Many  persons  of  rank  were  uncommonly  attached  to 
him,  and  reflected  whether  there  were  no  means  of  re- 
taining him  in  the  country.  He  was  also  urgently  re- 
quested to  preach  in  the  Cathedral  Church,  which  he 
did,  on  the  following  Wednesday." 

The  Cathedral  was  uncommonly  full  of  persons  of  all 
classes,  and  the  people  said,  "  If  all  sermons  were  like 
this,  all  men  would  be  converted." 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  "disease  in 
his  head"  at  this  time,  and  we  have  never  read  or  heard 
of  any  since.      On  the  contrary,  in  1748,  when  Kalm 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  27 

wrote,  mucli  of  liis  natural  eccentricity  had  merged  in  his 
own  review,  and  passed  into  a  more  modified  course. 
Still,  in  justice  to  Kalm,  or  perhaps  more  particularly 
his  "Englishmen  of  rank,"  it  may  be  but  proper  to  sug- 
gest a  contrast  between  the  general  character  of  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  English,  especially  as  exhibiting  its  full 
force  in  a  temperament  like  that  of  Zinzendorff's,  of  active 
energy,  rapidity  of  thought  and  utterance,  and  indomi- 
table zeal,  clad  in  national  peculiarities,  the  lack  of  quali- 
fication in  the  critic,  unwilling  or  unwitting,  might  cause 
an  oblique  view  of  national  prejudice. 

That  ZinzendoriF  was  eccentric,  his  best  friends  do  not 
deny ;  but  it  was  natural  and  not  assumed,  and  in  him, 
the  fault  of  genius.  ISTow,  although  eccentricity  may  be, 
and  often  is,  put  on  for  the  occasion,  to  pass  for  wit,  or 
to  furbish  some  rusty  coin  of  literary  lore,  or  is  too 
often  assumed  as  a  current  to  popularity,  nay  even  worse, 
to  pass  idiocy  for  common  sense,  and  downright  derange- 
ment for  wisdom,  yet  the  general  issues  of  ZinzendorfF, 
whether  moral  or  religious,  his  life,  his  labors,  and  the 
thousand  and  one  evidences  of  mind,  memory,  and  un- 
derstanding, in  their  fruits,  ought  ever  to  be  a  panoply  of 
justice  to  his  memory,  and  a  shield  against  the  thrusts  of 
error  and  misunderstanding. 

But  to  proceed. 

Our  historian,  same  vol.  p.  542,  rather  deepens  the 
shades  into  which  the  preceding  expose  thrusts  the  sub- 
ject of  their  animadversion,  and  clothes  him  in  the  rags 
and  tatters  of  mental  mendicity,  or  decorates  him  with 
the  fancied  implements  of  Quixotic  chivalry;  to  which 
end  the  letter  of  James  Logan  reads  as  follows,  which 
I  give  verbatim  et  literatim,  because  it  is  but  too  vulnerable 


28  HISTOnY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

in  all  its  parts,  "and  I  intend  to  meet  it  according  to  its 
deserts." 

"  A  MS.  letter  of  James  Logan,  of  tlie  year  1743,  written 
in  confidential  frankness  to  a  friend,  speaks  of  the  Count 
as  follows : 

"  I  have  had  frequent  intercourse  with  him,  and  heartily 
wish  I  could  say  anything  concerning  him  to  satisfaction  ; 
but  his  conduct  lost  him  all  credit  here,  being  now  only 
regarded  by  his  own  few  Moravians. 

"  He  sent  to  the  Friend's  Meeting  a  letter  signed  Anne, 
the  Elder,  written  in  an  odd  French  style,  which  it  was 
difficult  to  put  into  any  consistent  meaning  or  sense. 
About  the  same  time  he  framed  an  instrument  of  resigna- 
tion of  all  his  honors  and  dignities  to  some  relative.  This 
was  done  in  Latin,  but  still  more  odd  than  his  French  ; 
in  some  parts  carrying  a  show  of  elegance,  but  in  other 
parts  mere  nonsense;  in  other  places  plain  enough,  and  in 
others  perfectly  unintelligible.  This  he  desired  me  to 
put  in  English.  As  it  could  not,  he  had  it  printed  as  it 
was  in  Latin,  and  invited  the  Governor  and  all  who  under- 
stood Latin  to  meet  him.  Several  met,  when  he  read  off 
his  instrument,  giving  each  of  them  a  printed  copy  ;  but 
after  all  this  parade,  he  withdrew  his  papers  and  himself 
too,  saying,  'On  reflection,  he  must  first  advise  with  some 
of  his  friends  in  Germany.'  This  conduct  astonished  the 
company,  who  generally  concluded  him  insane.  He 
had  lately  been  visiting  the  Iroquois.  In  short,  he  appears 
a  mere  knight-errant  in  religion,  scarce  less  than  Don 
Quixote  was  in  chivalry.  Other  facts  of  his  singular 
behavior  are  mentioned  by  Logan.  I  have  preserved 
some  other  facts,  respecting  his  strange  conduct  in  Ger- 
mantown.     Very  wild  notions  are  imputed  to  him,  and 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  29 

told,  in  detail,  by  Rimius,  of  Prussia,  who  printed  a  book 
of  it  in  London,  in  1753.  The  decree  of  George  III,  as 
Elector  of  Hanover,  against  them,  and  which  induced 
them  to  come  to  Pennsylvania,  see  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Journal,  of  the  20th  of  December,  1750." 

Here  we  have  an  uncompromising  and  unqualified 
tirade  against  the  education,  the  sanity,  and  the  common 
sense  of  the  Count! 

It  is  fortunate  for  Zinzendorff's  few  Moravians  that 
Logan's  dictum  is  not  gospel ;  and  vastly  marvellous 
that,  after  his  labors  of  a  whole  year  in  and  about  Phila- 
delphia, with  a  growing  popularity,  deducible  even  from 
the  letter  "  to  the  Cooper,"  and  "  Logan's  ft'equent  inter- 
course" with  him,  that  he  could  not  "  find  anything  con- 
cerning him  satisfactory." 

"  Being  only  regarded  by  his  few  Moravians,"  Mr. 
Logan  might  have  allowed  him  to  be  beloved,  and  given 
him  his  increase,  since,  in  1743,  he  had  grown  in  the  affec- 
tions of  his  immediate  followers,  and  joined  by  others, 
and  was  evidently  more  than  regarded,  seeing  that  an 
ordinary  regard,  a  cool,  calculating  estimate  of  his  worth, 
could  never  have  kept  these  pioneers  at  work,  under  the 
impetus  of  his  suggestions. 

To  this  point,  his  venerable  biographer  writes :  "  He 
then  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  devoted  himself  as  much. 
as  the  time  permitted  to  his  beloved  Lutherans,  who 
were  also  much  attached  to  him,  and  established  a  church, 
consisting  of  those  Englishmen  who  had  recently  been 
brought  by  the  ministry  of  the  Brethren  to  a  knowledge 
of  tbe  Gospeh" 

And  again :  "  Finally,  he  preached  in  the  evening  of  the 
31st  of  December,  0.  S.,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  in 


so  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

tlie  newly  erected  Moravian  Church,  in  Philadelphia. 
During  the  sermon,  his  numerous  audience  were  much 
affected.  He  left  the  church  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
service,  to  avoid  the  pain  of  taking  leave  of  so  many  per- 
sons." 

Such  was  the  regard  of  his  few  Moravians  at  the  very 
time  (1743)  when  James  Logan  wrote. 

Under  such  testimony,  can  it  be  a  matter  of  wonder  if 
we  ask,  where  could  James  Logan  have  been  at  this 
time  ?  Can  it  be  possible,  that  in  this  mere  village  he 
could  have  been  ignorant  of  a  light  shining  in  so  small  a 
space,  whose  rays  might  have  scorched  his  borders ! 
Alas,  for  an  unwilling  witness  ! 

But,  the  Count  wrote  two  documents,  one  in  French, 
and  one  in  Latin,  both  incomprehensible  to  him  ! 

An  unwilling  witness  and  a  biassed  judge,  are  two  very 
great  obstacles  to  a  fair  decision.  And  it  is  not  a  little 
strange,  that  Logan,  who  claimed  to  rank  with  the  literati, 
should  have  been  ignorant  of  or  blind  to  the  educational 
.advantages  of  Zinzendorff. 

He  was  born,  educated,  and  travelled,  where  French 
and  Latin  were  the  common  currency  of  thought;  his 
practice,  therefore,  if  even  his  scholastic  attainments  had 
failed  him,  would  have  been  a  credible  pass  to  his  scho- 
larship ;  besides,  as  a  German,  his  national  inheritance 
rendered  the  adoption  of  almost  any  foreign  tongue  more 
of  a  luxury  than  a  task  to  his  natural  facilities. 

The  Germans  in  general  are  recherche.  They  are  ex- 
cellent linguists,  especially  in  Latin  and  French.  The 
better  class  speak  these  languages  fluently.  The  German 
scholar  thinks  in  them,  and  when  he  writes  he  embodies 
his  thoughts  in  them,  and  presents  them  as  the  currency 
of  his  mind. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  31 

ZinzendorfF  was  a  man  of  many  languages  ;  supplying 
thought  with  terms  as  it  sped  from  his  very  rapid  concep- 
tions, and  traced  them  to  the  eye,  from  his  varied  powers 
of  speech.  Latin,  German,  or  French,  were  alike  to  him, 
and  therefore,  if  these  documents  were  unintelligible  to 
his  accuser,  they  must  have  been  so  from  the  rapidity  of 
his  thoughts,  supplied  in  terms,  or  couched  in  the  tongue 
of  their  conception  ;  perhaps,  beyond  the  limits  of  Logan 
or  obnoxious  to  his  kindly  considerations  of  patience  and 
forbearance  ;  and  in  this  view  of  that  matter,  I  am  happy 
to  find  I  am  ably  supported  by  Bishop  Spangenberg, 
whom  I  have  consulted,  on  page  27-8  of  his  Preface  to 
his  Life  of  Zinzendorff,  where  he  testifies  as  follows : 

"  His  stj^le  and  diction  were  peculiarly  his  own.  His 
ordinary  German  was  anything  but  pure,  being  inter- 
mixed with  a  host  of  words  and  phrases  derived  from  the 
French,  English,  Latin,  and  other  tongues." 

"  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  extraordinary  feature,  I 
must  confess,"  observes  Miiller,  "that  his  language  on 
the  whole  pleases  me  exceedingly.  It  is  colloquial  in  a 
high  degree,  but  corresponds  as  closely  to  his  thoughts  as 
a  moistened  cloth  does  to  the  form  of  the  human  body; 
80  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  the  same  ideas  could  be 
difterently  expressed, — the  chief  characteristic,  in  my 
opinion,  of  a  good  style.  The  more  original  the  concep- 
tions, the  more  unusual  will  be  the  phraseology.  And 
there  is  not  one  of  his  literary  productions  which  does 
not  exhibit  traces  more  or  less  obvious  of  genius  and  ori- 
ginality. 

"Whenever  he  professes  to  write  pure  German,  he 
writes  admirably,  according  to  the  judgment  of  modern 
critics." — Miiller's  Bekentnisse,  pp.  3,  4. 


32  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

This  part  of  Logan's  fanious  letter,  therefore,  must 
shrink  into  the  deep  shades  of  suspicion,  and  plead  preju- 
dice for  its  conception,  under  such  rebutting  testimony. 
The  wonder  is,  how  it  could  have  escaped  the  eye  of. 
Watson,  when  he  gave  the  Logan  Letter  to  his  "Annals," 
without  a  single  ray  from  the  light  of  other  minds ;  but 
of  this,  hereafter. 

The  finale  of  the  letter  sharpens  in  severity,  and  the 
Count  is  proclaimed,  in  efiect,  a  derange. 

"  In  short,"  says  he,  "  he  appears  a  mere  knight-errant 
in  religion,  scarce  less  than  Don  Quixote  vras  in  chi- 
valry;"  a  most  wonderful  terminus  of  the  mental  labors 
of  Logan  versus  Zinzendorff;  a  sad  inheritance  to  his 
offspring,  and  a  lamentable  legacy  to  the  American 
Moravian  Church.  But,  thank  God,  our  madhouses  are 
not  yet,  nor  are  our  asylums,  to  calm  the  flights  of 
Quixotic  imagination,  even  in  embryo !  And  here,  I 
might  rest,  and  muse  over  Logan's  toil  to  concentrate  the 
bitterness  of  his  asperity  (as  unworthy  of  comment), 
pierced  into  shades  of  shame  and  confusion,  by  the  re- 
flected rays  from  the  helmet  of  his  Don  Quixote ;  but  the 
perpetuity  of  the  reflection  has  gone  forth  as  a  text  of 
history,  and  although  futile  in  fact,  is  mischievous  in 
effect. 

But  controversy  is  unnecessary.  If  we  refer  to  the 
counsel  of  Zinzendorff,  it  stands,  because  "it  is  of  God." 
If  to  the  fruits  of  his  doings,  our  atmosphere  is  redolent 
of  its  sweet-smelling  savor ;  for,  "  by  their  fruits,  shall  ye 
know  them." 

"  Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself,"  said  Festus.  "  Zinzen- 
dorff, thou  art  a  very  Don  Quixote,"  says  Logan.  Of 
this,  let  the  reader  judge. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  83 

That  Logan  and  ZinzeiidorfFwere  men  of  very  diiFcrent 
temperament  is  obvious, — the  one,  calm,  calculating,  and 
measured  in  thought  and  action;  the  other,  restive, 
pressing  to  his  mark,  energetic  in  speech  and  decision. 
They  were  evidently  as  opposite  in  their  pursuits  in  life. 
Zinzendorff  sacrificed  dollars  and  cents  at  the  shrine  of  his 
altar,  and  certainly  obtained  thereby  "  a  good  report ;" 
whilst  Logan  seems  to  have  had  another  shrine  ;  and 
Watson  quotes  thus  of  Logan,  vol.  ii,  p.  524-5 :  "When 
he  was  a  young  man,  and  secretary  to  Penn,  he  felt  an 
indilFerence  to  money,  and  deemed  this  a  happy  retire- 
ment for  the  cultivating  of  the  Christian  graces;  but  after 
he  had  some  experience  in  life,  finding  how  little  respect 
and  influence  could  be  usefully  exerted  without  such  com- 
petency as  to  give  a  man  ready  access  to  good  society, 
he  thenceforth  set  himself  seriously  to  endeavor,  by  en- 
gagements in  commerce,  to  attain  that  consequence  and 
weight  which  property  so  readily  confers,"  as  the  sacrifice 
to  his. 

Leaving  each  to  his  choice,  the  comparison  and  deduc- 
tion gives  ZinzendorfiT  position,  without  money ;  whilst 
Logan  appears  to  have  compromised  his  "  Christian 
graces"  for  the  glitter  of  wealth,  to  illumine  his  way  to 
the  "respect  and  influence"  of  good  society. 

Having  thus  necessarily  noticed  the  letter,  and  its 
tendency,  of  James  Logan,  as  well  a  prerogative  as  a 
duty  to  the  character  of  the  sequel  of  this  book  (but  in 
so  doing,  drawn  to  the  conclusion  by  its  tone  and  tenor 
of  a  prejudiced  writer),  I  find  my  opinion  fully  confirmed 
by  a  German  author,  Lbhr,  in  his  "  GescMchte  u  Zust- 
dnde  die  DeutcTien  in  Amerika,'"  pp.  75,  77,  86,  87, 
where  he  writes  as  follows,  quoting  Logan : 

3 


6i  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

'*'In  1717,  a  great  number  of  people  from  the  Palati- 
nate have,  of  late,  immigrated  to  this  country;  they  have 
come  without  recommendation,  a  source  of  great  anxiety. 
These  strangers  do  not  suit  amongst  us,  as  the  English." 

In  1729,  in  a  letter  to  Penn,  he  thus  denounces  them : 

"  The  Germans,"  says  he,  "  are  impudent  and  poor 
strangers,  of  whom  many  have  served  as  soldiers.  They 
generally  sought  out  the  best  tracts,  and  took  possession 
of  them  as  public  property. 

""When  examined  as  to  their  right  and  title,  they 
replied,  that  in  Europe  the  general  report  was,  that 
emigrants  were  wanted,  and  that  there  was  land  in  abun- 
dance for  them."  And  in  1724,  he  expressed  great  un- 
easiness lest  "the  great  number  should,  vi  et  armis, 
possess  the  land ;"  but,  in  1726,  his  fears  increase,  and  he 
says,  "  They  are  a  people  with  whom  it  is  difficult  to 
have  intercourse ;  the  men  are  well  armed,  and  always 
ready  for  battle." 

Again.  "  Six  hundred  men  are  expected,  and  if  Parlia- 
ment does  not  forbid  their  immigration,  the  colonies  will 
be  lost  to  the  English  Crown  !" 

Il^ow,  here  is  abundant  evidence  of  the  feverish  pulse 
of  Logan  floating  ignes  fatui  from  his  imagination, 
and  wresting  from  its  throne  the  balancing  power  of  a 
sound  judgment.  Fancy  fights  must  have  been  before 
him,  and  the  fear  of  invasion  and  foreign  power  behind 
him. 

Temporal  usurpation  seems  to  have  worn  upon  him 
first,  and  the  spiritual  incursion  of  ZinzendorfF  capped  the 
climax  of  his  fears ;  and  the  whole  was  seethed,  by  the 
heat  of  his  opposition,  into  the  very  dregs  of  prejudice. 
Even  so,  for  the  tirade  against  the  Germans  is  as  untrue 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  35 

as  it  is  unjust;  seeing  that  a  more  industrious,  indefati- 
gable, and  economical  people  exists  nowhere  on  the 
globe.  A  people,  whose  characteristic  is  economy; 
whose  motto  is  economy ;  and  who,  connecting  it  with 
labor,  have  ever  proved  it  to  be  wealth. 

Their  genius,  mechanical  and  agricultural,  is  prover- 
bial, and  being  national,  must  have  been  known  in  Logan's 
time,  in  proportion  to  what  they  are  now;  and  they  were 
■so,  as  testified  by  Jonathan  Dickinson,  wiio,  in  1719, 
writes  as  follow^s : 

"  We  are  expecting  daily  vessels  from  London  with  six 
or  seven  thousand  Germans  (Pfalzer),  of  whom  we  have 
had  a  great  number  about  five  years  ago,  who  bought 
land,  and  settled  some  sixty  miles  w^est  of  Philadelphia, 
and  have  peaceably  and  industriously  cultivated  and 
improved  their  lands;"  page  73,  Lohr. 

These  chroniclers  of  their  time,  were  both  highly  re- 
spectable gentlemen,  and  yet,  this  difference  of  report  on 
the  same  subject,  bears  hard  upon  Logan's  denunciation 
of  Zinzendortf,  and  voluntarily  confirms  the  charge  of  a 
mind  prejudiced  against  the  Germans  and  their  character. 

Having  thus  reviewed  Mr.  Logan's  antisympathetic 
opinions  of  ZinzendorfF  and  his  countrymen,  it  is  but 
natural  to  turn  to  the  perpetuating  medium,  or  its  author, 
of  the  opinions,  in  wonder  at  the  apathy  that  induced  their 
unqualified  indorsement. 

Had  the  Moravian  Church  been  extinguished  with  the 
mortal  existence  of  its  patron,  or  were  it  now  wallowing 
in  a  slough  of  doubtful  disputations  on  the  soundness  of 
his  mind — had  the  one  hundred  years  preceding  the  issue, 
ofl^ered  nothino^  but  oblivion  to  the  search  or  common  in- 


36  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

quiiy  of  Mr,  Watson,  or  tlie  memory  of  ZiiizeiicIorfFLcen 
shattered  to  atoms  by  the  maddened  bruit  of  a  lunatic 
asylum — had  he  never  read,  heard,  or  thought  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  Moravian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  or  been 
ignorant  of  its  members,  their  doings,  their  respectability, 
and  their  continued  furtherance  of  Zinzendorff''s  early, 
laudable,  and,  under  God,  successful  labors — then  might 
he  have  safely  handed  to  posterity  the  unmitigated  cen- 
sure and  opprobrium  of  Zinzendorff  as  a  Quixotic  pre- 
tender to  Christian  valor,  as  well  as  a  pedantic  hero  of 
scholastic  folly. 

But  it  would  be  injustice  to  Mr.  Watson  to  assume  all 
this. 

One  hundred  years  had  elapsed.  The  green  bay  tree  of 
his  planting  had  matured  to  a  dignified  diameter ;  its 
branches  were  widely  extended ;  its  foliage  perennial,  and 
ever  fresh  ;  its  buds,  blossoms,  and  flowers,  redolent  of  a 
sweet- smelling  savor,  and  its  fame  world-wide. 

The  Moravian  Church  and  its  missions  have  never  been 
hid  "  under  a  bushel ;"  and  yet  Mr.  Watson,  who  com- 
passed sea  and  land  to  gather  the  pedigree  of  Logan, 
and  ploughed  the  fallow  ground  of  England,  Sweden,  and 
Prussia,  to  embellish  his  opinions  of,  but  derogatory  to 
Zinzendorf,  withal  seems  not  to  have  found  anything 
satisfactory  concerning  him, — a  most  wonderful  apathy ; 
for,  admitting  for  the  moment  the  plea  of  misconception 
of  Logan  as  a  contemporary,  Moravians,  Moravianism,  and 
its  root  in  America,  were  certainly  no  enigmas  when  Wat- 
son indorsed  Logan. 

Let  the  historian's  motto  be,  "  Fiat  justitia,  ruat 
coelum." 

In  concluding  this  part  of  my  introduction,  it  may  not 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  37 

be  out  of  place  to  remark,  that  derangement,  in  whatever 
form  it  may  have  seated  itself,  whether  in  the  vivacious 
fancy  of  a  Don  Quixote,  or  the  mothy  sluggishness  of 
melancholy,  very  seldom  yields  to  remote  generations,  but 
chases  time,  to  chafe  its  victim  without  limit,  or  calcula- 
tion of  a  terminus. 

I^ow  there  are  at  this  time  several  direct  male  descen- 
dants of  Count  Zinzendorff  in  this  country,  eminently  of 
sound  mind,  filling  important  stations  in  the  Moravian 
Church,  and  deservedly  popular  for  their  talent,  education, 
and  social  bearing;  perpetuating  the  self-sacrificing  spirit 
of  their  great  great  grandsire,  unlet  and  unmolested  by 
the  frantic  impetus  of  the  inheritance  common  to  the  un- 
fortunate ofispring^of  mental  aberration. 


33  HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


CHAPTEE  in. 

Zinzendorff's  Hymnology  and  Poetic  Talent — Defence — Qualification. 

But  for  the  propriety  and  the  desire  to  present  the  ori- 
ginal labors  of  Zinzendorff  in  America,  but  more  esj)e- 
cially  in  our  city,  strij^ped  of  the  stigma  of  a  curiosity  of 
his  times,  it  were  less  necessary  than  expedient,  to  clear 
my  passage  to  his  borders.  And  so  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned, Watson's  biographical  hint,  as  well  as  the  subject 
before  me,  might  have  slept  on  the  "  cooling-board  of 
time." 

In  pursuance,  therefore,  of  duty,  justice,  and  propriety, 
I  take  occasion  further  to  note  an  ingenuous  objection 
in  the  twelfth  volume  of  "  Chambers's  Repository ;"  which, 
after  a  lucid  and  kindly  view  of  the  Count  and  his  doings, 
thus  proceeds  :  "  In  the  older  and  more  objectionable 
hymns,  we  find  a  number  puerile,  others  highly  ofi:ensive 
in  taste  and  imagery  !"  Undeniable  as  is  this  truth,  it 
is  not  beyond  controversy,  nor  obnoxious  to  defence  or 
palliation. 

The  eccentricity  of  Zinzendorff  is  conceded ;  and  was 
especially  apparent  in  his  colloquial  and  idiomatic  man- 
ner of  venting  his  conceptions. 

His  imagination  was  vivid,  susceptible,  and  rapid ; 
whilst  the  warmth  of  his  temperament,  imbued  with 
childlike  simplicity,  embodied  and   gave   wings   to   the 


IN    PHILADELPniA.  39 

ardor  of  his  zeal ;  and  the  obstacle  of  poetic  refinement 
was  merged  in  the  more  facile  current  of  poetical  license. 
Hence,  the  puerility  of  his  imagery  was,  doubtless,  adapted 
to  that  of  his  babes  in  Christ,  with  whom  he  had  constant 
intercourse,  and  to  whom  he  spoke,  professionally  and  so- 
cially, in  terms  and  similies  most  familiar  to  their  under- 
standing. Much  of  which,  however  adapted  to  his  times 
and  purposes,  must  appear  crude  in  ours,  after  the  polish 
of  a  hundred  year^  of  even  the  mode  of  thinking. 

The  strength  of  some  other  of  his  imagery,  though 
couched  ofiensively  to  our  ears,  was  certainly  not  so  to  the 
hearers  of  his  times,  any  more  than  was  the  very  extra- 
vagant terms  of  the  fourth  song  of  Solomon  to  the  trans- 
lators and  compilers  of  the  Old  Testament.  Enthusiasm 
appears  to  have  elasticised  their  imagination,  and  their 
conceptions  reflected  the  impress  in  bold  and  unfledged 
imagery. 

His  poetic  genius,  notwithstanding,  was  rich,  apt,  and 
forcible. 

Latrobe,  in  his  preface  to  his  Life,  says,  "As  a  hymnolo- 
gist,  he  claims  a  distinguished  rank  in  Germany." 
Again,  "They" — his  hymns — "  are,  as  might  be  expected, 
of  unequal  merit,  are  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  genuine 
poetry."  "  So  fertile  was  his  genius,  and  so  ready  his 
power  of  versification,  that  he  not  unfrequently  composed 
and  gave  out  extemporaneous  hymns,  which  were  sung 
by  the  church  in  his  house,  or  by  the  congregation  as- 
sembled on  festal  occasions." 

Testimony  of  his  poetic  genius  is  not  necessary.  But 
the  reference  above  is  ofiered  to  show  that  the  puerility 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  oflensiveness  on  the  other,  of 
some  of  his  hymnology,  were  the  pure  ofierings  of  a 


40  HISTOEY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

grateful  heart,  consecrated  to  the  service  of  his  Lord  and 
Master,  and  by  no  means  the  evaporation  of  a  diseased 
head. 

"Willing  to  admit  the  whims,  oddities,  and  imperfections 
of  Zinzendorff,  we  feel  and  know  that  they  can  all  be 
compassed  in  the  bands  of  charitable  conclusions. 

Eccentricities  are  often  spasmodic,  but  not  the  less 
sane  and  sound  in  their  issues  ;  but  the  results  of  the 
labors  of  such  a  one  ought  to  be  forever  a  passport  of 
their  memory  to  generations  to  come. 

In  the  case  of  our  patron,  we  can  give  him  the  fruits  of 
his  hands,  and  let  his  own  works  praise  him  in  the 
gates,  and  thus  present  him  shining  through  the  clouds 
of  obloquy,  and  lighting  up  the  path  of  his  opening  to 
the  succession  of  his  spiritual  administration. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  41 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Location  of  the  first  Moravian  Church — Title,  &c. 

In  pursuance  of  his  object  to  establisli  a  churcli  and 
congregation,  and  in  conformity  with  the  earnest  desire 
of  those  converted  under  his  ministry,  he  selected  and 
took  up  a  lot  of  ground,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  an 
avenue,  between  Second  and  Third  Streets,  running  south 
to  Arch  Street,  of  thirty-five  feet  on  Race  Street,  by  one 
hundred  and  two  feet  on  the  avenue  or  alley. 

This  avenue  took  the  name  of  Moravian  Alley,  and 
was  so  recognized  until  the  march  of  improvement,  that 
so  veraciously  feeds  on  ancient  landmarks,  thought  well 
to  refine  it  to  Bread  Street,  why  or  wherefore,  it  would 
be  hard  to  tell ;  it  was,  however,  a  whim  of  our  city  fathers, 
who  a  few  years  ago  did  so  alter  and  amend  the  names 
and  finger-boards  of  all  our  lanes,  streets,  and  alleys, 
that  our  citizens  became  not  only  strangers  in  their  own 
city,  but  strangers  were  misled  and  confused  as  to  their 
earlier  knowledge  of  the  facilities  of  Philadelphia  for 
former  regularity. 

The  lot  above  mentioned  was  secured  and  appropriated 
about  the  middle  of  the  year  1742,  but  the  regular  deed 
did  not  pass,  and  was  not  executed  till  August  20th,  1743. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  of  this  suspension  of 
formal  or  legal  transfer,  history  or  tradition  does  not  say ; 


t 


42  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

9 

certain,  however,  it  is,  that  the  title  did  then  pass,  and  was 
vested  as  follows : 

Deed,  August  20,  1743.     ■ 

"William  Allen  and  wife,  to  Samuel  Powell,  Joseph 
Powell,  Edward  Evans,  William  Eice,  John  Okley,  and 
Owen  Rice,  for  thirty- five  feet  of  ground,  east  and  west, 
on  Sassafras  Street,  by  one  hundred  and  two  feet  deep, 
which  Andrew  Hamilton,  the  father  of  Margaret,  wife  of 
William  Allen,  by  his  will,  31st  of  July,  1741,  devised  to 
his  said  daughter,  Pedclendum  to  the  said  William  Allen 
and  wife,  her  heirs  and  assigns,  for  the  yearly  rent  of 
5?.  5s.  sterling,  from  the  16tli  November,  yearly,  forever. 

This  was  of  course  a  trust,  by  common  consent,  but  not 
declared  till  1746,  when  the  following  Declaration  of 
Trust  was  made  by  the  above  Samuel  Powell,  et  alia,  as 
follows  : 

Declaration  of  Trust,  April  22,  1746. 

Declarinc:  the  use  to  be  vested  in  a  certain  congregation 
of  Christian  people,  as  well  German  as  English,  residing 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  belonging  to  the  Church  of 
the  Evangelic  Brethren,  who  had  caused  to  be  erected 
thereon  a  new  building,  for  and  then  in  their  use  and 
service,  and  intended  so  to  be  and  remain  in  their  use 
and  service,  for  and  as  a  church  and  school-house,  to 
S.  Lewis,  Thurnstein  Knight,  David  l^itchman,  Joseph 
Spangenberg,  Henry  Antes,  John  Broomfield,  and  Charles 
Brockden. 

Deed,  August  20,  1761. 

Joseph  Spangenberg,  et  alia,  conveys  to  Peter  Bohler, 


I\    PIIILADELnilA,  43 

Nathaniel  Seidel,  Gottlieb  Petzolcl,  Frederick  Marshal], 
and  Timothy  Horsefield,  all  the  above  lot,  together  with 
the  church  and  parsonage  then  completed. 

Thus  far  the  Society  had  been  confined  to  the  above 
thirty -five  feet,  but  subsequently  they  purchased  the  lot 
adjoining  on  the  east,  twenty-five  feet  front  on  Eace  Street, 
more  or  less.     Title  derived  as  follows  : 

Deed,  January  2,  1739-40. 

James  Parrock  to  Lawrence  Kunze,  twenty-five  feet  on 
Race  Street,  by  one  hundred  and  two  feet  deep,  on  ground- 
rent  of  3Z.  16s.  6d.  per  annum. 

Kunze  died  intestate,  and  the  lot  was  afterwards  sold 
and  conveyed  as  follows  : 

'    Deed,  January  15,  1782. 

Jacob  von  Reid  and  Margaret  his  wife,  Henry  Winne- 
more,  Jacob  Clein  and  Mary  his  wife,  and  Conrad  Ort 
and  Mary  his  wife,  heirs  of  Lawrence  Kunze,  to  John 
Cornman,  Godfrey  Imager,  Conrad  Gerhard,  Adam  Goos, 
George  Schlosser,  and  John  Peter.  Consideration,  5001. 
Pennsylvania  currency. 

Although  these  lots  were  separately  conveyed,  their 
interest  and  purpose  was  one,  and  they  finally  became  so 
in  form  as  well  as  in  fact.  The  succession  of  trusts,  how- 
ever, continue  until  December  25th,  1851,  when  it  was 
vested  in  the  "Elders  of  the  First  Moravian  Church  of 
Philadelphia,"  by  John  Warner  and  Thomas  C.  Lueders, 
the  last  surviving  trustees  of  the  succession. 

Against  the  ancient  possession  of  this  lot,  the  Church 


44  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

proper,  dignified  by  time,  yet  but  a  mote  to  the  eye  of 
Dame  Capricio,  tbe  fatal  march  of  improvement  pre- 
sented, urged,  and  enforced  its  claims, — a  privilege  purely 
American ;  but  the  memento  of  the  venerable  Zinzendorfl 
was  to  be  scattered  to  the  winds. 

Admitting  the  incapacity  of  the  edifice  for  an  increasing 
congregation,  there  was  wealth  enough  in  the  church  to 
preserve  this  ancient  landmark,  and  locate  elsewhere  and 
more  eligibly.  The  question  was  agitated,  but  subdued  by 
the  very  power  that  should  have  cast  its  influence  in  the 
scale  of  protection. 

Again  there  was  a  proposition  to  do  what  has  recently 
been  done,  to  sell  this,  however — which  would  have  been 
as  bad  and  perhaps  worse  than  what  was  done — and  build, 
either  in  the  centre  or  on  the  edge  of  the  Burial- Ground, 
onVine  Street ;  but  the  project  failed,  and  in  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1819,  it  was  finally  and  fully  determined  to 
pull  down,  and  rebuild  on  the  same  old  site. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  1819,  the  corner-stone  of  the  new 
church  was  laid.  But  there  I  must  leave  it,  until  its  pre- 
decessor gives  place  to  its  claims  ;  ac{  interim,  however,  it 
will  not  be  out  of  place  to  introduce,  in  connection  with 
the  earlier  dates,  the  Burial-Ground,  with  its  title  and 
location. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  45 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Burial-Ground — Title — First  interments,  &c.  &c. 

The  church  had  no  burial-ground  of  its  own,  from  its 
date,  1743  to  1757 ;  and  it  appears,  from  the  church 
register,  which  dates  from  January  1st,  1743,  that  the 
dead  were  interred  in  various  grounds  in  the  city,  either 
by  courtesy  or  contract. 

The  first  entry  reads  thus:  "1744.    Mrs.  Manny,  the 

wife  of Manny,   of  this  town,  sail-maker,  departed 

this  life,  September  25th,  and  was  buried  in  the  English 
Church  burying-ground,  the  day  following,  aged  sixty 
years." 

Second,  thus:  "Frederick  Clemm,  a  married  man,  of 
this  town,  barber,  departed  this  life,  October  14th,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Potter's  Field,  by  John  Jacob  Doeh- 
ling;  aged  about  thirty  years." 

"1745.  "William,  the  son  of  "William  and  Rebeka 
IS^ixon,  departed  this  life,  March,  12th,  aged  two  months ; 
was  buried  in  William  Price's  lot,  near  Bedminster,  the 
day  following,  by  Christopher  Pyraleus." 

"  1746.  Mary  Batson,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Mary  Batson,  departed  this  life,  January  2d,  and  was 
buried,  the  day  following,  in  Thomas  Say's  Burying- 
Ground." 

Say's    Buryiug-Ground    is    situate    on   Third   Street, 


4G  HISTORY   OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

west  side,  between  Market  and  Arch,  probably  origi- 
nally on  the  line  of  the  street ;  but  now  bounded  on  the 
east  by  two  stores,  IsTos.  34  and  36 ;  and  on  the  west  and 
north  by  the  Quaker  Burying-Ground. 

Immediately  on  the  south,  adjoining,  there  was  a  pri- 
vate burial-ground,  located  and  owned  by  James  Porteus, 
a  bachelor,  who  lived  in  the  kitchen  of  the  main  build- 
ing, and  died,  and  was  buried  on  his  lot,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  from  the  line  of  Third  Street,  whose 
slab  yet  marks  the  spot,  and  thus  records :  "  Here  lays 
the  body  of  James  Porteus,  who  departed  this  life,  the 
19th  day  of  January,  1733,  aged  seventy-two  years." 

The  above  are  verbatim  et  literatim  copies  from  the 
record,  and  are  given  as  well  as  specimens  of  old-time 
simplicity,  as  to  fill  the  gap  from  1743  to  1757,  touching 
the  very  important  appendage  to  every  church, — a  deposi- 
tory for  the  dead. 

This  gap  is  filled  by  seventy-six  recorded  deaths.  The 
two  last  read  thus:  "Juliana  Clay,  a  widow,  went 
home  to  our  Saviour,  5th  of  October,  '57,  and  was 
buried  in  Kingston — probably  Kensington.  She  lived 
two  miles  out  of  town.  She  was  a  friend  to  us,  but  not 
received  into  our  Society." 

"  Sarah  Thorn,  wife  of  William  Thorn,  went  home  to 
our  Saviour,  October  21st,  and  was  buried  in  the 
Quaker  Burying-Ground  ;  aged  about  30  years." 

From  1757  to  1764,  there  were  other  deaths  and  inter- 
ments out  of  and  fi'om  the  Mission,  principally  converted 
Indians,  and  a  few  whites,  as  heretofore,  in  different 
grounds,  as,  perhaps,  opportunity  offered,  or  circum- 
stances required.  Of  such  there  were  fifly-five,  male  and 
female,  young  and  old. 


IN    nilLADELrillA.  47 

Tlic  margin  notes  :  "  Indians  departed  in  the  Barracks, 
and  at  Pliiladelphia,  in  the  year  1764,  and  buried  in  the 
Potter's  Field,  in  the  year  1764  ;  of  these,  forty-nine  were 
of  the  above  fifty-five." 

In  1757,  the  Society  purchased  a  lot,  for  burial  pur- 
poses, thus  recorded : 

Deed,  May  10,  1757. 

Samuel  Jones  and  Amy  his  wife,  heirs  of  Joshua  Law- 
rence, to  Lewis  Cassler,  for  lot  of  ground  in  the  jSTorthern 
Liberties,  north  side  of  Vine  Street,  and  west  side  of  a 
fifty-feet  street — since  called  Lawrence  Street — being 
eighty  feet  two  inches  front  on  Vine  Street,  by  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  on  La^vi'ence  Street;  granted  by 
patent  of  John  Penn  to  Joshua  Lawrence,  with  other 
ground,  February  15th,  1734. 

Lewis  Cassler  subsequently  conveyed  the  above,  as  fol- 
lows, in  trust. 

Deed.  Burial-Ground.  December  28,  1786. 
Ludwig  Cassler  to  George  Schlosser,  John  Peter, 
Adam  Goos,  John  Cornman,  Thomas  Bartow,  Godfrey 
Hager,  and  Conrad  Gerhard,  for  lot  of  ground  north  side 
of  Vine  Street,  and  west  side  of  a  fifty-feet  street,  called 
Lawrence  Street,  in  trust.  Consideration,  82?.  15s.  Penn- 
sylvania currency,  or  $215  33J. 

Witnesses.  Signed,  Samuel  Jones, 

L.  Weiss,  Amy  Jones. 

Peter  Miller. 

Thus  far  the  title  of  the  church  property.  But,  as  it 
would  be  premature  to  enter  the  cemetery  and  hury  the 


48  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

dead,  before  the  ingatlieriug  of  life,  I  shall  proceed  to  re- 
build, review,  and  present  the  nucleus  of  the  Moravian 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  from  its  cradle,  1742- 
46,  when  the  parsonage  was  adjoined;  thence  to  its  demo- 
lition, in  1819 ;  and  then  give  some  account  of  the  inter- 
ments in  the  new  ground,  and  set  forth  Moravians  and 
Moravianism,  together  with  their  manners  and  customs, 
and  everything  else  that  may  ofler  touching  that  early 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  49 


CHAPTER  YI. 

Location  and  Description  of  the  Exterior — East  and  West  Fronts  of  tlie 
Church  Edifice,  and  View  of  the  Church  Edifice — Eastern  Front  without 
the  Parsonage. 

As  stated  above,  the  lot  was  the  southeast  corner  of 
Race  Street,  and  a  twenty  feet  passage  or  avenue  to  Arch 
Street,  probably  nameless  before  the  Church  suggested 
the  designation  of  "Moravian  Alley." 

Its  dimensions  were  thirty-five  feet  on  Race  Street,  by 
one  hundred  and  two  on  the  avenue. 

Foresight,  economy,  and  expediency,  as  well  as  inability, 
suggested  the  propriety  of  reserving  sufficient  depth  on 
Race  Street  for  the  very  important  appendage,  when 
circumstances  should  warrant,  of  a  parsonage,  or,  more 
properly,  a  "Mission  House,"  so  called,  because  of  its 
intended  purposes  of  accommodating  the  Brethren  of  the 
Mission,  of  and  belonging  to  this  station,  besides  others 
of  this  "household  of  faith." 

The  church  building  was,  therefore,  set  back  about 
thirty-five  feet  from  the  line  of  Race  Street.  Its  dimen- 
sions were,  taking  the  fronts  on  Race  Street,  thirty  feet 
by  about  forty-five  feet  on  Moravian  Alley.* 

The  sexes  being  separated  in  their  sittings,  two  fronts 
were  necessary  for  their  respective  entrance,  and  hence, 
five  feet  on  the  east  was  reserved  and  kept  open  for  a  pas- 

4 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

sage  to  the  entrance  of  that  front.  The  building  was 
about  twenty  feet  in  height  to  the  eaves,  from  which 
started  the  broken  pitch  or  hip-roof,  about  ten  feet  to  the 
peak  or  ui:)per  ridge,  the  object  of  which  I  shall  presently 
show. 

At  the  extreme  south  of  the  western  front,  was  the 
sisters'  door ;  whilst  on  the  extreme  north  of  the  eastern 
front,  was  that  of  the  brethren. 

Two  windows  on  the  east,  and  two  directly  opposite  on 
the  west,  were  the  apertures  for  light  and  air  ;  besides  a 
small  upper  window  on  the  extreme  south  of  the  eastern 
front,  to  serve  the  gallery  and  its  occupants  with  like 
comfort  and  convenience. 

The  four  main  windows  started  full  six  feet  from  the 
ground,  but  stretched  up  thence  to  very  near  the  eaves. 

There  was  no  fancy  about  these  conveniences.  Win- 
dows and  doors  were  entirely  unpretending  in  their  offer- 
ings. Glass,  nine  by  eleven,  and  plain  square-framed 
doors,  about  three  feet  six  inches  by  six  feet  six  inches, 
were  dignified  by  their  office  or  purpose,  and, gave  tone 
to  the  humble  conceptions  of  their  architect. 

The  walls  were  of  good  hard  brick,  not  pressed  front 
stretchers,  but  hard  brick,  interspersed  with  glazed  black- 
keaders,  showing  their  object  of  breaking  the  monotonous 
red.  Some  very  old  buildings,  yet  in  being,  tell  of  this 
variety  and  taste  of  the  olden  time. 

The  annexed  plate  is  as  near  a  fac  simile  as  memory, 
grafted  in  the  susceptible  prime  of  youth,  can  delineate ; 
and  this,  I  am  happy  to  say,  is  -fully  confirmed  by  several 
surviving  contemporaries  of  these  times.  Kot,  however, 
of  1742,  but  of  1798,  and  onward  during  the  existence  of 
the  building. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  51 

The  eastern  front  was  but  a  reflection  of  the  western ; 
but,  for  reasons  first  given,  it  was  a  corresponding  front. 

Of  this  edifice,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  10th  day 
of  September,  1742,  and  the  rapidity  of  the  workmen  ren- 
dered it  available  for  consecration,  which  ceremony  was 
performed  by  Count  Zinzendorff,  on  the  25th  day  of 
IS'ovember  following. 

Rapid  as  was  this  work,  it  was  well  and  substantially 
done ;  it  had  neither  break  nor  crack  in  its  walls,  in  any 
part  of  the  building.* 

The  congregation,  as  such,  was  not  yet  formed ;  but 
the  spiritual  gatherings  of  the  Count,  desirous  of  a  closer 
communion  with  the  Unity  of  the  Brethren,  he,  accord- 
ing to  their  wish,  constituted  his  thirty-four  members 
into  a  Moravian  congregation,  on  Kew  Year's  day  of  the 
year  1743. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1746,  this  congregation  com- 
menced the  addition  of  a  parsonage,  or  congregation- 
house,  extending  their  borders  on  the  east,  by  the  lot  of 
twenty-five  feet,  purchased  of  the  heirs  of  Lawrence 
Kunze ;  which  lot  or  conveyance,  must  have  been  held 
in  escrow  from  1739-40  to  1746. 

The  addition  of  this  building,  and  the  adjoining  lot, 
gave  finish,  dignity,  and  character  to  the  whole. 

*  In  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  the  building  was  struck  by  light- 
ning, which  cracked  the  east  wall  of  the  parsonage,  after  shattering  a  bed- 
stead in  one  of  the  chambers,  but  no  one  was  hurt.  A  lightning-rod  was 
planted,  and  run  up  to  the  chimney-top  of  the  parsonage,  immediately  after 
this  accident. 


52  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAYIAN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Parsonage — Interior  Arrangements — Purposes — Minister's  Support. 

The  dimensions  of  this  building  were  thirty  feet  front, 
by  thirty -five  deep ;  it  was  two  and  a  half  stories  in  height 
to  the  apex,  the  broken  pitch  conforming  exactly  with 
that  of  the  church  proper. 

There  were  four  rooms  on  the  first  floor,  divided  north 
and  south  by  a  passage  from  the  front  door  to  the  entrance 
of  the  church,  by  a  small  doorway,  inserted  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  minister ;  on  the  west,  by  a  wide,  open 
stairway  ;  and  directly  opposite  by  a  passage  eastward  to 
the  yard. 

The  northeast  room  was  the  minister's  parlor,  or  recep- 
tion-room, about  twelve  by  fifteen  feet  in  size ;  of  humble 
garniture,  consisting  of  a  ten-plate  stove,  plain  small 
mahogany  table,  a  small  mahogany  looking-glass,  in  the 
pier,  a  rag  carpet,  and  a  few  Windsor  chairs,  an  old- 
fashioned  shelf,  high  above  the  fireplace,  over  which 
strode  the  stove-pipe  to  its  entrance  into  the  chimney. 

The  southeast  room  was  the  study  and  private  apart- 
ment of  the  minister,  furnished  with  a  table,  a  few  chairs, 
rag  carpet,  and  a  small  stove.  The  southwest  apartment 
was  the  kitchen,  and  the  northwest  was  variously  used,  as 
necessity  or  expediency  required,  for  domestic  purposes. 


;ip^ 


IX    PHILADELPHIA.  53 

The  stairway  was  guarded  by  a  broad  oaken  liand-rail, 
supported  by  flat  fancy  banisters  ;  they  were  commo- 
dious in  width,  and  very  easy  of  ascent,  being  designed 
for  congregational  as  well  as  domestic  purposes ;  lit  by 
day,  by  a  window  over  the  first  landing,  and  by  night,  by 
a  taper  floating  upon  an  inch  depth  of  oil,  in  a  plain 
glass  globe,  suspended  at  the  corner  of  the  passage  lead- 
ing into  the  yard,  whose  glimmer  served  fairly  the  four- 
fold purpose  of  lighting  up  the  points  of  the  compass. 

There  was  no  waste  of  oil  or  tallow  in  those  days. 
Small  favors  were  respectfully  appreciated,  and  thankfully 
appropriated.  Our  fathers  used  their  blessings,  comforts, 
and  conveniences  as  not  abusing  them. 

The  second  floor  was  divided  into  five  or  six  small 
sleeping  apartments,  as  was,  likewise,  the  dormitory, 
excepting  a  passage  in  the  latter,  from  the  stairway  to 
the  upper  audience  chamber  of  the  church,  into  which  a 
doorway  had  been  inserted  as  below;  of  all  which  in  their 
proper  order. 

This  building  was  planned  and  arranged  not  only  for 
the  parsonage  of  a  single  resident  minister,  but  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  several  missionaries,  who  were  engaged 
in  and  about  the  city,  as  well  also  for  visiting  ministers 
from  the  several  congregational  places  established  by  the 
Count,  and  subsequent  growth  of  his  early  designs ;  but 
besides  these,  it  was  the  welcome  of  any  brother,  minister, 
or  man,  who  might  come  to  the  city  on  business  or  plea- 
sure ;  which  custom  continued  into  the  present  century. 
They  were  entertained  free  of  cost,  frugally,  but  kindly 
and  comfortably. 

There  was,  at  this  time,  no  fixed  amount  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  clergy ;  they  were  cared  for  by  their  flocks, 


54  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CIIURCU 

as  need  required  ;  tliej  were  called  laborers,  and  as  such, 
were  counted  worthy  of  their  hire  ;  but  the  congregation 
being  very  small,  and  certainly  not  wealthy,  its  offerings 
were,  of  necessity,  also  small;  but  still,  though  they  had 
little,  they  had  no  lack,  and  they  were  content  with  such 
things  as  they  had. 


T^ 


Vi 


7 ' 


^  ^ 


0 


•—  -     —    »»«-'»«-  "I  i_a4A 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  55 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

The   Lower  Audience   Chamber  of  the  Church  Proper  (see  drawiug  an- 
nexed)— Organs — Organists  and  Organ  Builders. 

The  lower  audience  chamber  was  thirty  feet  wide,  hy 
about  forty-five  feet  in  length  on  Moravian  Alley.  Its 
height  was  about  twenty  feet  from  the  floor.  Tlie  walls 
were  wainscoted  to  the  height  of  about  five  feet ;  above 
which  were  the  plain  whitewashed  walls,  to  the  ceiling, 
which  was  also  whitewashed. 

On  the  southern  end,  an  old-fashioned,  broad,  hand-rail, 
flat  banister,  enclosed  an  easy  flight  of  stairs,  to  a  land- 
ing, two-thirds  of  the  way  up,  starting  from  near  the 
women's  door,  and  turning  to  the  gallery ;  and  there  was 
a  corresponding  flight  from  the  men's  door  on  the  north- 
ern end.  Each  of  these  stairways  was  guarded  by  a  gate 
below,  with  a  bolt  on  it,  but  besides,  were  protected  from 
unbidden  or  foreign  material  by  a  cliaijel  servant.*-  Boys 
and  girls  were  generally  required  to  stay  below.  On 
the  west  side,  between  the  windows,  stood  an  old-time, 
pedestal,  ogee  pulpit,  with  flve  or  six  risers,  or  steps,  to  its 
entrance  and  seat,  which  was  a  board  inserted  in  the  wall, 
sans  arms  or  cushion.  The  desk  for  the  Bible,  too,  was 
an  uncushioned  board,  extending  some  six  inches  over  the 
pulpit's  edge. 

*  Chapel  servant,  the  early  term  for  sexton  ;  called  in  German,  Diener. 


5Q  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

In  front,  directly  over  the  bulge  of  the  pulpit,  was  a 
large  gloria  of  wood,  of  coarsely  carved  rays,  darting  irre- 
gularly from  a  dark  centre,  which  held  the  letters  I.  H.  S. 
The  rays  and  letters  were  gilt. 

Previous  to  the  year  1805,  this  pulpit  had  no  sounding- 
board;  in  that  year,  however,  Joseph  Worrel,  a  carpenter, 
and  a  member  of  the  church,  made,  presented,  and  affixed 
this  appendage  in  the  wall,  a  very  short  way  above  the 
minister's  head;  it  was  neither  round  nor  elliptic,  but 
five-sided. 

In  front  of  this  pulpit,  there  was  a  square  oaken  table, 
covered  with  plain  green  ratinet,  behind  which  stood  an 
old-fashioned,  high,  cane-back,  but  rush-bottomed  chair, 
now  in  good  preservation,  and  in  the  possession  of  John 
Jordan,  Jun'r,  whence  came  the  catechetical  authority  to 
the  doubting,  timid  urchin,  as  he  awaited  his  turn  to 
answer  some  unanticipated  question. 

The  area  of  this  chamber  was  furnished  with  some 
twenty  benches,  of  ten  feet  in  length,  ten  for  each  sex, 
leaving  an  aisle,  east  and  west,  of  about  six  or  eight  feet. 

These  benches  had  top-rails  and  arms,  stained  and  po- 
lished, but  no  other  back  than  the  top-rail. 

In  front  of  these  were,  at  each  side,  one  of  lower  order, 
for  boys  and  girls,  catechumens  under  twelve  years  of 
age, — who,  although  yet  catechumens,  were  promoted 
to  the  next  bench  behind,  after  they  had  attained  their 
twelfth  year. 

Antecedent  to  the  year  1794,  the  aisle  just  described 
was  clear  of  all  incumbrance  ;  and  it  would  appear,  from 
the  following  minute,  that  up  to  that  time  no  provision 
whatever  was  made  for  warming  the  church.  The  minute 
reads  thus : 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  57 

"Oct.  12,  1794.  Agreed,  that  a  ten-plate  stove  in  our 
church  be  purchased  ;  and  that  the  Brethren  Ilager  and 
Small  wood,  have  the  charge  thereof." 

In  December,  same  year,  the  purchase  was  reported  to 
the  "Standing  Committee  of  the  Church,"  as  follows: 

1  ten-plate  stove,         ......  £?>  150 

Furnishing  the  same,           .         .         .         .         .  2   12  6 

42  feet  of  pipe,  at  19cZ., 3     6  6 

1  cord  of  wood ;  hauling  and  sawing,           .         .  3  10  7 

£13     4  7 
Abated  on  account,  ....  20 

£13     2  7 
Or,  $35  and  a  fraction. 

This  stove  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  aisle  ;  and, 
as  the  church  had  no  chimneys,  the  pipe,  elevated  to  the 
gallery  girder,  passed  under  it  and  out  of  the  eastern 
window,  into  the  yard ;  whilst  fuel,  shovel,  and  tongs, 
were  all  snugly  arranged  beneath  the  stove,  ready  to 
serve  any  well-wisher  to  the  comforts  of  their  brethren 
and  sisters.  The  warming,  therefore,  of  the  Moravian 
Church,  in  Philadelphia,  commenced  late  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  1794. 

But,  to  return  to  my  description.  Along  the  wain- 
scoting, except  the  space  occupied  by  the  pulpit  and 
stairs,  a  plain  bench  offered  its  services  to  any  one  not 
else  seated.  An  entrance  having  been  made  from  the 
parsonage  into  the  church,  in  the  centre  of  the  north 
wall,  immediately  behind  the  staircase,  the  chapel  servant, 
for  the  time  being,  always  sat  at  the  end  of  that  wall- 
bench  leading  to  this  door,  whose  business  it  was  to  call 
and  wait  on  the  minister  into  the  church,  and  shut  the 


58  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

door  after  liira,  at  the  proper  time  of  commencing  ser- 
vice, and  open  the  door  again  as  he  left  the  pulpit. 

The  two  western  windows  were  curtained,  to  break  the 
glare  of  the  afternoon  sun,  by  long  streamers  of  green 
ratinet,  hung  on  an  iron  rod  at  the  top  by  small  rings,  and 
drawn  right  and  left  by  a  cord,  extending  in  a  graceful 
curve  below  the  window-sill,  and  within  reach  of  the 
proper  operator.  These  windows,  being  high  from  the 
floor,  could  not  be  reached  nor  raised,  except  from  the 
full  elevation  of  the  bench  below ;  and,  even  then,  the  tip- 
toe was  called  to  do  its  part. 

The  north  and  south  galleries  were  furnished  with 
plain  box-seats,  without  any  backs,  except  a  strip  of  two 
or  three  inches,  rising  from  the  seat.  Of  these,  there 
were  two  rows,  besides  the  wall  seats,  all  or  any  of  which 
were  seldom  occupied  till  1817  ;  the  ground  floor,  till 
then,  being  suflicient  for  all  the  comforts  and  conveni- 
ences of  the  congregation. 

In  the  centre  of  the  eastern  gallery,  directly  opposite 
to  the  pulpit,  stood  a  small  organ,  of  five  stops,  with  gilt 
pipes  in  front,  and  broken  scroll  cornice,  with  a  small 
gilt  eagle,  with  extended  wings,  peering  upon  the  organist 
from  the  pedestal  between  the  scrolls. 

The  dignified  appearance  of  the  organ  was  consider- 
ably enhanced  by  side-panels,  extending  its  breadth 
about  two  feet  on  each  side,  ornamented  with  an  oval  of 
gilt  show-pipes.  The  disposition  of  the  instrument  was  as 
follows : 

1.  Stop,  d  Diapason. 

2.  Open  do. 

3.  Flute.  ' 

4.  Principal. 

5.  Fifteenth. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  59 

The  metallic  tones  of  the  latter  flew  richly  through 
the  diapasons,  and  gave  brilliancy  to  the  whole.  It  was 
a  spirited  afiair,  and  yet  sufl3.ciently  subdued  for  the  more 
solemn  service  in  its  diapasons  alone. 

It  appears,  from  the  minutes  of  iTovember,  1796,  that 
this  organ  had  a  predecessor,  which,  being  declared  old, 
and  in  a  state  of  decay,  was  ordered  to  be  sold,  and 
another  procured. 

In  May,  1797,  the  committee  heretofore  appointed  to 
carry  out  this  project,  report,  "that  they  have  sold  the 
organ  to  the  steward  of  the  '  Union  Church,  at  White 
Hall,  Northampton  County,'  at  the  price  of  50Z.  (a  pretty 
good  sale),  and  that  they  had  purchased  a  new  organ,  of 
Peter  Kurtz  (the  organist  then,  and  for  many  years  after, 
of  Christ  Church),  for  1051. ;  and,  in  ISTovember,  1797, 
paid  David  Dannenberg  (Tannenberg),  lis.  6d.  (eleven 
shillings  and  sixpence),  for  extra  tuning."* 

*  Peter  Kurtz  died  on  the  12th  of  April,  181C,  and  -was  buried  in  Christ 
Churcli  Ground,  southeast  corner  of  Fifth  and  Arch  Streets. 

This  veteran  organist  was  the  capelle  meister  of  Christ  Church,  for 
upwards  of  forty  years ;  and,  when  seated  at  the  foot  of  his  instrument, 
looked  as  though  he  had  gi'own  in  the  seat.  He  was  of  the  old  German 
school ;  his  voluntaries,  preludes,  and  interludes,  though  just  and  true, 
were  strictly  editions  of  each  other ;  fancy,  to  him,  was  yet  unborn,  except 
so  far  as  the  north  and  south  running  and  rolling  over  the  scale,  was  so 
considered  ;  and  he  enjoyed  his  post,  too,  saving  the  dereliction  of  Jerry, 
the  colored  bellows-blower,  who  sometimes  forgot  that  it  took  two  to  make 
the  music, — when  Jerry,  at  the  top  of  the  organ,  and  Kurtz  below,  would 
exchange  sharps  in  whispers,  but  severe  in  purpose.  The  bellows  of  this 
organ  was  situated  at  the  back  of  the  top,  whence,  the  wind  was  conveyed 
by  "trunks"  to  the  "chest"  below.  Jerry  was  therefore  exalted,  and 
could  smile  at  his  master  below,  with  impunity. 

Tannenberg  belongs  to  history  as  the  organ  builder  of  his  day,  and  one 
of  renown.     He,  too,  was  of  the  German  school.     Fancy  stops  were  not 


60  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

How  long  before  1787  the  old  organ  gave  tone  to  and 
from  that  spot,  data  saith  not;  but  in  that  year,  it  cer- 
tainly was  there,  seeing  that  the  organist  was  reproved 
by  the  Committee  of  the  Church,  for  bad  or  improper 
playing,  and  the  organ  closed,  for  a  season,  against  his 
determined  disobedience,  then  and  there. 

Though  a  mere  epitome  of  an  organ,  it  was  supplied 
by  two  unusually  large  bellows,  on  the  south  side,  not 
less  than  three  feet  wide  by  six  feet  long  each,  and  with 
one  fold ;  they  were  set  in  a  frame,  one  above  the  other, 
upon  the  cross-beams  of  which  rested,  in  a  fulcrum,  a 
long  heavy  lever  to  each,  which  required  some  strength 
to  bring  down  from  its  angular  quiet.  This  was  the 
honorable  post  of  your  author,  though  a  mere  stripling, 
whose  main  strength  was  enhanced  by  the  pleasurable 
anticipation  of  an  ad  interim  seat  at  the  southeast  window, 
overshadowed  by  a  fruitful  peach  tree,  and  the  chance  of 
an  occasional  relish,  as  the  good  old  minister  turned  his 
head  and  his  attention  from  this  garden  of  Eden. 

The  north  side  of  this  gallery  was  open  to  the  choir 
exclusively,  which  consisted  of  some  four  or  five  boys,  of 
which  I,  too,  was  one,  when  particular  occasions  called 
for  extra  services  in  that  department,  at  which  time  we 
were  seated  either  on  a  backless  bench  there,  or  on  a  like 

generally  in  vogue,  except  the  trumpet  in  the  great  organ,  and  the  vox 
humana  iu  the  swell,  of  which  latter,  there  was  but  one  in  the  citv,  and 
that  was  in  Christ  Church  ;  and  to  my  young  ear,  a  good  imitation  of  the 
human  voice. 

There  are  several  of  Tannenberg's  organs  yet  in  breathing  existence. 
Lancaster,  Litiz,  and  Nazareth  still  hold  his  memory  in  audible  and  re- 
spectful tones ;  and  much  of  his  work  is  worthy  of  imitation.  His  dia- 
pasons were  particularly  dignified,  whilst  his  upper  work,  12th,  15th,  and 
sesquialtera,  gave  brilliancy  to  the  Avhole. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  61 

accommodation  between  the  bellows  and  the  front  of  the 
gallery ;  in  such  cases,  being  promoted  for  the  time 
being,  a  substitute  manned  the  bellows'  pole. 

It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  the  musical  department 
of  the  church  was  of  the  most  sacred  regard,  and  that 
the  hymning  of  religious  sentiment  was  tested  by  the 
sincerity  of  the  offering.  Prayer,  praise,  supplication, 
and  thanksgiving,  being  concentrated  into  rhythmic 
beauty,  and  uttered  in  tones  melodious,  were  not  the  less 
^worship  for  their  mode  of  offering;  of  which,  however, 
more  in  the  sequel. 

It  will  be  also  in  place  to  state  here,  that  the  organ 
first  described  was  sold  to  John  Shermer,  a  watchmaker, 
resident  in  North  Second  Street,  near  Coates,  west  side, 
in  exchange  for  a  new  one  of  four  stops,  built  by  him; 
valuing  the  old  one  at  $120,  and  his  at  ^^400,  paying, 
therefore,  the  difference  of  §280, — all  which  was  com- 
pleted, and  the  new  organ  up  in  the  church  on  the  10th 
of  February,  1809. 

The  objections  to  the  old  organ  do  not  ajDpear;  but 
although  Shermer's  genius  spoke  well  for  its  source, 
except  the  bulk  and  place  required  for  the  bellows, — there 
was  not  much  gained  by  the  exchange. 

The  arrangement  for  lighting  this  chamber  for  even- 
ing service,  though  simple,  was  not  without  some  dig- 
nity, since,  beside  the  tin  candle-holders,  hung  here  and 
there  on  the  several  posts,  under  the  gallery,  a  brass 
sconce  hung  imposingly  from  the  centre  of  the  ceiling  to 
within  about  six  feet  from  the  floor.  The  body  of  this 
sconce — its  proper  name  in  those  days — was  a  bulb  of 
about  ten  inches  in  diameter,  presenting  six  graceful 
curved  branches,  from  a  band  and  sockets  around  its  centre, 


62  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

having  a  knob  below  by  wbicli  to  draw  it  from,  or  return 
it  to,  its  equilibrium. 

The  evening  service  being  seldom  held  from  the 
pulpit,  the  lights  there  were  temporary. 

The  table  below,  being  mostly  used  by  the  minister  for 
these  services,  was  supplied,  as  occasion  required,  by 
two  clever-sized  tallow  candles,  subsequently  substituted 
by  spermaceti,  as  refinement  pressed  its  claims. 

The  annexed  drawing  shows  the  principal  half  of  this 
area  and  its  fixtures,  to  which  I  confidently  refer,  and  pass 
on  to  the  upper  chamber,  which,  in  reality,  was  the  most 
important,  being  kept  exclusively  for  all  private  meetings, 
to  wit,  receptions,  confirmations,  communions,  love-feasts, 
&c.  &c. ;  and  was,  therefore,  in  fact,  the  starting-point  or 
nucleus  of  the  congregation. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  »  63 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Description  of  tlie  Hall — Upper  Chamber — Use  of,  &c. 

The  upper  chamber  was  called  "  The  Hall,"  and  was 
reached  by  a  close,  narrow  stairway,  from  the  southern  gal- 
lery, and  entered  by  the  brethren  by  a  small  door,  at  the 
head  of  this  short  flight  of  stairs,  and  by  the  sisters, 
through  an  entrance  from  the  attic  of  the  parsonage. 

Its  dimensions  were  the  same  as  the  floor  below,  and 
its  floor  was  supported  by  a  heavy  girder,  extending  the 
whole  length,  from  north  to  south,  of  the  church  edifice, 
resting  on  the  north  and  south  walls,  forty-five  feet 
apart ;  yet  as  firm  as  a  rock. 

This  girder  was  subsequently  used,  being  slit  longitu- 
dinally, as  girders  for  the  gallery  of  the  immediate  suc- 
cessor to  this  ancient  pile  ;  and  although,  eighty  years  in 
service,  as  a  support  to  the  gathering  above,  and  a  reflec- 
tor or  sounding-board  to  that  below,  was  unscathed  in 
every  part,  and  sound  from  centre  to  circumference. 

The  arrangement  of  the  benches  here,  was  the  same  as 
that  below,  as  well  in  the  general  area  as  along  the  walls. 

The  walls  were  wainscoted  from  the  floor  to  the  ceil- 
ing inclusive,  and  in  form  followed  the  rafters,  leaving, 
however,  a  flat  surface  of  some  five  or  six  feet,  to  square 
off  the  apex  of  the  roof. 

Daylight  here  was  neither  strong  nor  extensive.    There 


G4  HISTORY   OF    THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

were  three  dormer  windows  on  the  east  and  three  on  the 
west  side,  and  a  square  window  in  the  south  gable  end, 
at  the  head  of  the  stairs  ;  one  of  these  dormer  windows  at 
each  side  of  this  attic,  opened  midway  into  this  area,  and 
from  the  pitch  of  the  room  formed  a  sort  of  recess. 

The  minister's  table  and  chair,  somewhat  better 
finished  than  the  same  below,  was  placed  immediately 
under  the  easternmost  window,  having  the  sisters  on  the 
right,  and  the  brethren  on  the  left. 

In  the  southeast  corner  stood  the  organ,  a  sweet  little 
affair  of  three  stops,  facing  north.  This  was  the  musical 
department,  and  was  guarded  by  a  ten-feet  bench,  upon 
which  sat  the  elder  members  of  the  church,  as  well  for 
their  own  convenience,  as  to  guard,  watch,  and  keep  in 
order  the  juvenile  choristers,  who  were  privileged  thus  to 
sit  behind  them.  This  enclosure  was  exclusive,  none  but 
the  members  of  the  choir  being  admitted,  and  they  con- 
sisted of  the  organist  and  four  or  six  boy  singers,  the 
bellows  blower,  and  an  old  indispensable,  who  considered 
the  music  very  imperfect  without  the  twang  of  his  fiddle, 
to  which  he  attached  more  importance  than  the  minister 
or  his  audience  ;  of  which,  however,  and  the  choir  music 
in  general,  more  in  its  turn. 

This  hall  being  mostly  used  for  evening  service,  and, 
moreover,  a  kind  of  sanctum,  was  more  refined  in  appear- 
ance, and  more  dignified  in  character,  and  although  un- 
carpeted,  its  milk-white  floor  and  general  neat  attire  were 
always  interesting  and  inviting.  The  floor  below  was 
sanded  ;  this  was  not. 

The  chandelier  (sconce)  was  the  issue  of  good  taste. 
The  body  was  elongated,  of  some  fanciful  indentations,  and 
four  medium  fancy  branches  for  candles ;  this,  suspended 


IN  riiiLADF.r.piirA.  65 

from  the  ceiling,  was  run  up  and  down,  as  the  one  bolovr, 
and  gave  considerable  dignity  to  the  place  of  its  abode. 
In  addition  to  this,  two  tall  brass  candlesticks,  with  extra- 
sized  candles,  on  the  minister's  table,  and  two  boldly 
curved  branches,  one  from  each  cheek  of  the  window, 
over  or  rather  behind  him,  illuminated  the  great  centre  ; 
whilst  two  or  three  candles  about  the  organ,  and  as  many 
more  at  the  opposite  end,  in  tin  candle-holders,  distri- 
buted light  in  all  required  abundance  ;  of  all  which  the 
annexed  drawing  is  a  graphic  description.  But  whilst 
w^e  could  boast  of  plenty  of  light,  and  that,  too,  in  jets 
from  fancy's  oilering,  we  could  not  dilate  upon  the  abun- 
dance of  heat,  or  even  moderate  warmth.  There  was  no 
arrangement  for  this  comfort,  and  the  only  medium  of 
heat,  to  qualify  the  air,  or  chafe  the  chill  of  this 
chamber,  was  borrowed  from  below  ;  to  which  end,  some 
hours  in  advance  of  meetings  to  be  held  above,  a  smart 
fire  was  made,  kept  up  in  the  stove  below,  and  the  door 
at  the  head  of  the  stairs  being  left  open,  the  generating 
redundance  of  the  stove  sought  refuge  as  far  above  as  it 
could  get — a  sensible  alternative,  as  it  was  also  a  sensitive 
comfort ;  but  not  quite  enough  for  the  old  sisters,  whose 
happy  medium,  always  au  fait,  brought  forth  their  foot- 
stoves,  with  porringer  of  live  hickory  coals,  to  complete 
this  desideratum. 

In  this  sanctum  there  was,  as  ^vell  as  below,  some  dif- 
ferences in  the  sittings,  but  without  distinction.  The 
younger  part  of  the  congregation  not  being  admitted,  the 
front  benches  were  occupied  by  the  elders  on  one  side, 
and  their  wives  on  the  other  ;  whilst,  most  prominent  of 
all,  sat  the  chapel  servant,  under  the  eave,  on  a  wall- 
bench,  some  three  feet  only  from  the  side  of  the  minister, 

5 


66  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

with  snuffers  at  hand  to  clip  and  remove  the  darksome 
refuse  of  heat  and  tallow. 

This  hall  was  not  painted  till  June,  1791,  when  it  was 
done  by  Jabez  Emory. 

THE    USE    OF   THE    HALL. 

As  before  stated,  this  hall  was  kept  for  and  used  only 
on  special  occasions,  for  private  meetings,  and  the  more 
sacred  ordinances  of  the  church,  viz. : 

The  "washing  of  feet,"  in  pursuance  of  the  example  of 
our  Saviour. 

The  Holy  Communion,  in  obedience  to  his  command. 

The  love-feasts,  in  continuance  of  the  early  custom  of 
the  Christian  Church,  for  its  harmonizing  influence  upon 
the  congregation. 

The  reception  of  members  into  the  congregation.    And, 

The  ejection  of  obstinate  backsliders,  or  immoral  mem- 
bers, who  would  neither  "hear,  nor  forbear." 

In  every  case  of  a  meeting  here,  the  brethren  of  the 
congregation  gathered  first,  and  sat  in  order  below,  £ynd 
at  the  appointed  time — and  they  were  exact  to  a  minute — 
the  chapel  servant  came  from  the  hall  to  the  gallery's 
edge,  and  beckoned  with  his  hand,  when  all  rose  and  went 
up,  "  decently  and  in  order;"  and  when  they  were  seated, 
the  sisters  came  in  from  the  attic  of  the  parsonage — in 
the  earlier  times  without  bonnets,  but  in  plain  caps. 
Meanwhile,  the  organist  was  solemnizing  the  assemblage 
by  a  befitting  voluntary. 

The  original  entrance  to  the  hall  for  the  sisters,  was  by  a 
corresponding  flight  of  stairs  from  the  gallery  to  the  one  on 
the  south  end,  already  noted ;  but  after  the  connection  of  the 
parsonage,  they  passed  up  by  the  stairway  of  its  entry, — 
also  heretofore  set  forth, — to  the  antechambers  in  the  attic, 
where  they  prepared  for  their  call  to  the  service. 


IN    PniLADELPIIIA.  67 


CHAPTER  X. 

Front  Entrance — Gardens,  &c.,  of  and  to  the  Church  and  Parsonage. 

Prior  to  the  year  1746,  the  entrance  to  the  church,  on 
the  eastern  front,  was  evidently  only  by  a  five-feet  passage, 
because  the  actual  width  of  the  foundation  on  Race 
Street,  recently  measured,*  not  having  been  disturbed  by 
the  modern  improvements,  is  exactly  thirty  feet,  which 
also  determined  the  exact  depth  of  the  church. 

Subsequently,  being  in  full  possession  of  the  lot  adjoin- 
ing on  the  east,  and  the  parsonage  being  built,  five  feet 
was  added  to  the  passage,  and  gave  a  ten-feet  opening  to 
the  church,  ae  w^ell  as  a  passage  to  a  neatly  cultivated 
garden  on  the  rear  of  the  church  premises,  and  a  reserved 
part  of  the  eastern  addition. 

Besides  the  varied  cultivation  of  this  reservation  with 
fruits  and  flowers,  and  very  plenty  of  the  latter,  there 
was  a  vastly  prolific  peach  tree  in  the  passage,  whose 
waving  branches  so  often  and  so  opportunely  paid  their 
respects  at  my  window,  with  its  grateful  and  irresistible 
offerings. 

On  the  front  of  this  lot  there  was  a  two-story  frame, 
which  was  alternately  occupied  as  a  store,  storehouse,  and 
finally  a  cabinet-maker  shop  and  ware  room,  at  a  rent  vary- 
ing from  501.  to  151.,  and  raising  again  to  30?.  per  annum ; 

*  The  original  foundation  being  yet  in  its  place. 


68  nisTor.Y  of  the  mohavian  cnur.cn 

reserving  about  forty  feet  of  the  rear  end,  to  enlarge  tlie 
garden  at  tlie  rear  and  side  of  the  church. 

There  was  also  a  small  frame  tenement  on  the  southern 
end  of  the  church  lot,  on  Moravian  Alley,  occupied  for 
many  years  as  a  turner-shop,  by  John  Stow,  at  14Z.  per 
annum. 

The  garden  here  spoken  of  was  one  of  no  mean  appear- 
ance. 

Our  good  old  rector,  Brother  John  Meder,  was  as  inde- 
fatigable in  his  secular  duties,  as  he  was  earnest  in  his 
labors  of  love.  He  lost  no  time,  but  ever  and  anon 
caught  the  fleeting  moment,  and  planted  it  in  his  garden, 
or  marked  its  flight  by  a  more  imperious  call. 

The  garden,  therefore,  sharing  his  industry,  was  also 
redolent  of  his  taste  and  skill,  and  the  privileged  turn 
within  its  enclosure  was  fully  enjoyed,  not  only  with  its 
sweetly-scented  atmosphere,  but  by  the  liberal  permis- 
sion to  dress  the  button-hole  with  a  sprig  or  blossom, 
that  needs  must  yield  to  the  covetous  eye  or  curious 
touch  of  a  wistful  wanderer  over  its  paths. 

Roses  various,  lilacs,  heart's-ease,  lilies,  &c. ;  peach, 
pear,  and  plum  trees,  were  hailed  by  aerial  songsters 
above  ;  whilst  the  sward  below  sent  forth  the  untiring  trill 
of  the  flirty  and  bounding  grasshopper,  whose  serenade 
never  gave  place  to  time  or  circumstances,  but  was  rather 
intrusive  upon  the  more  tender  tones  of  the  minister. 

In  these  presentations  of  the  early  history  of  this 
church,  there  is  necessarily  a  mixture  of  recollections ; 
but,  be  assured,  reader,  that  these  recollections  are  in  no 
wise  flowers  of  fancy  ;  they  were  planted  in  the  early  soil 
of  my  existence,  and  their  garden  has  only  grown  in  ver- 
dure, to  create  an  oasis  in  the  desert  of  declining  life. 


-  f- 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  69 

Data  must  be  my  aiitliority  ;  and  to  data  I  appeal  to 
gather  up  the  fragments  that  constitute  the  history  of  our 
ecclesiological  existence,  and  the  venerable  tabernacle  that 
gathered,  nursed,  and  furthered  the  pioneers  of  this  por- 
tion of  the  Christian  Church  in  America, 

Hence,  then,  I  must  return  to  the  place  of  beginning; 
show  up  the  nucleus,  and  bring  up  the  congregation,  as 
time  and  the  grace  of  God  increased  their  spiritual  and 
their  temporal  strength. 


70  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Primitive  Opening  of  tlie  Churcli — Organization — Original 
Officers  and  Succession,  &c. 

The  original  object  of  Count  Zinzendorff  was  not  sec- 
tarian, but  a  general  exercise  of  Christian  benevolence  ; 
gathering  up  from  any  and  every  quarter  within  his  reach, 
his  scattered  and  neglected  German  brethren. 

The  thirty-four  persons  that  constituted  his  congrega- 
tion in  Philadelphia,  were,  of  course,  close  adherents  to 
his  principles  and  doctrine,  and  became  willing  subjects 
of  his  discipline.  His  ecclesiastical  associates  were  nearly 
as  numerous  as  his  lay  members ;  but  his  missionary 
compass  naturally  rendered  his  and  their  duties  itine- 
rant ;  and  wherever  he  or  they  could  obtain  an  audience, 
large  or  small,  there  they  sowed  the  seed  of  spiritual  life. 
The  sphere  of  their  labors  being  thus  extensive,  but 
transient — the  Count  himself  being  here  but  for  a  very 
short  time,  and  all  that  time  variously  and  unintermit- 
tingly  engaged — there  were  no  regular  minutes  kept  of 
their  proceedings,  except  memoranda  on  loose  leaves, 
some  of  which  have  been  spared  the  ruthless  tooth  of 
time,  and  present  their  gatherings  for  the  information  of 
our  day. 

From  this  we  gather  the  following  succession  of  the 
ministry,  from  1743  to  1785  ;  the  latter  being  the  date  of 
regular  minutes. 


IN    PIIILADELrniA.  71 

1741.  Count  Nicholas  Louis  dc  Zinzenclorif,  having 
established  his  head-qnarters  at  Bethlehem,  in  this  State, 
gave  freedom  to  his  sacerdotal  services,  alternately  here, 
as  well  as  there,  and  in  other  places,  from  his  advent 
to  his  departure  for  Europe ;  during  which  time,  John 
Christoper  Pyrlaeus  appears  to  have  been  his  more  im- 
mediate associate  in  the  ministry  here,  and  afterwards, 
with  others,  succeeded  him,  and  continued  the  work  in 
Bethlehem. 

Peter  Boehler,  an  active,  eminent,  and  effectual  fellow- 
worker  in   the    Gospel ;    David  Bruce,   Thomas   Yarrel, 

Okel}^,    Owen    Rice,    Richard    Utley,  Evans, 

Thomas  Greening,  Matthew  Reitz,  Ricliard  Bonner,  An- 
drew Eschenbach,  John  Bechtel,  and  Daniel  Neubert, 
were  all  engaged  in  the  itinerancy,  and  were  contempo- 
raries from  1743  to  1747. 

These  brethren,  though  noted  as  associated  in  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel  in  aud  about  Philadelphia,  were  not 
confined  to  its  limits ;  but  we  find  some  of  them  laboring 
alternately  in  this  period,  in  New  York,  where  a  sister 
society  had  been  formed  in  1740,  under  the  pastorate  of 
Peter  Boehler,  who,  after  his  efforts  in  Georgia,  came  on 
to  that  colony. 

I  cannot  help  remarking  here  that  this  very  Peter 
Boehler  was  the  bosom  friend  and  co-worker  with  the 
Count,  at  and  before  the  time,  1740-43,  that  Logan 
writes,  and  Watson  unqualifiedly  quotes  him  as  "  a  mere 
knight-errant  in  religion,"  and  "as  scarcely  less  than 
Don  Quixote  in  chivalry."  And  this  very  Peter  Boehler, 
whom  "Wesley,  the  founder  of  one  of  the  most  useful, 
energetic,  evangelical,  and  extensive  denominations  of 
Christians  in  the  world,  the  Methodists,  acknowledges  as 


72  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

his  spiritual  father.  A  most  awful  infliction  of  unlimited 
insanity,  if  Logan's  wisdom  were  exemplified  at  the  pre- 
sent day. 

But  to  the  succession. 

From  1747  to  1751.     Abraham  Eeinke, 
Owen  Rice,  and 
John  Gamhold, 
were  associate  ministers,  with  the  exception  of  Abraham 
Keinke,  who  being  called,  or  sent  elsewhere,  was  substi- 
tuted by  Richard  Utley.   1751  to  1753,  Brother  Reinke  is 
again  in  his  place,  and  thence  to  1754,  we  have  the  Breth- 
ren Herman,  Jacob  Rogers,  John  Brandtmiller,  Abra.  L. 
Rusmayer. 
1754  to  1756.     John  Valentine  Ilaidt, 

Christopher  Frank,  and  again, 
Thomas  Yarrel. 
1756  to  1762. 

Christian   Otto  Krogstrup,  Jasper  Payne,   

Herman,  Jacob  Rogers, Till,  Henr}'  Beck. 

1762  to  1774. 

George  l^eissor,  Richard  XJtlcy  again,  and  Jacob 
Fries. 
1774  to  1784. 

Daniel  Sydrick  alone  had  charge  of  the  congregation, 
subject  to  visits  and  aid  from  the  authorities  at  Bethlehem, 
which  he  also  obtained  and  perhaps  needed  in  this  still 
infancy  of  the  church. 

Transient  visits  had  been  made  before  by  the  brethren. 
Bishop  Spangenberg,  Frederick  CammerhofF,  George 
Soelle,  and  services  rendered,  but  the  regular  succession 
appears  to  have  been  as  above,  the  last  of  which  was  the 
return  of  George  ISTeissor,  in  1784,  latter  part  of  the  year. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  73 

who  died  on  tlie  1st  of  iJ^Tovembcr,  of  tliut  year,  and  is 
amongst  the  early  tenants  of  the  silent  congregation  of 
Vine  and  Franklin  Streets. 

The  itinerancy  of  the  mission  seems  to  have  ended 
here.  The  congregation  being  settled,  the  several  minis- 
ters, heretofore  necessary  to  supply  this  church  and  its 
various  outposts,  were  withdrawn  to  supply  other  stations, 
intermediately  formed  and  established,  by  the  Count  and 
his  assistants  in  the  ministry. 

Bethlehem  being  the  head-quarters  of  the  Church  at 
large,  and  the  seat  of  government,  laws,  rules,  orders,  and 
regulations,  were  issued  thence,  and  was  as  well  the 
receptacle — obligato — of  reports  of  the  temporal  and  spi- 
ritual doings  of  the  branches  of  its  Church. 

Hence  during  the  forty-two  years  of  itinerancy  here, 
the  authorities  there  were  kept  alive  to  the  doings  of 
their  brethren,  and  their  protocol  was  supplied  by  reports 
of  the  progre'ss  of  the  mission  here.  "Whilst  here,  only 
memoranda  on  loose  sheets  were  kept,  some  of  which 
are  yet  extant  in  the  archives  of  the  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia. 

The  Church  being  therefore  fairly  and  fully  established, 
the  Rev.  John  de  Watteville,  son-in-law  of  the  Count, 
the  husband  of  his  eldest  daughter,  Henrietta  Benigna 
Justina,  presented  himself  as  patron  to  regulate  and  sym- 
plify  a  more  tenable  organization  of  the  Church  and  con- 
gregation. 


74  HISTORY   OP   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Authorities  of  the  Church — Their  Source,  Order,  &c. 

In  immediate  connection  with  the  organization  and 
furtherance  of  the  Church  in  Phihidelphia,  it  will  bo 
important  to  the  chain  of  my  history,  to  introduce  the 
source  and  the  regulating  or  governing  powers  of  the 
churches  in  America. 

Although  Count  Zinzendorff  came  to  this  N^ew  World 
to  seek  and  ameliorate  the  spiritual  condition  of  his  Ger- 
man brethren  in  general,  but  at  first,  labored  with  and 
for  the  Lutherans;  yet,  as  an  official,  he  was  a  Bishop 
of  the  Moravian  Church,  but  came  out  from  thence, 
divested,  for  the  time,  of  his  robes,  and  labored  as  an 
ordinarius,  "  becoming  all  things  to  all  men,  so  that  if 
by  any  means,  he  might  win  some." 

"When  he,  however,  established  Bethlehem  as  his  head- 
quarters, ho  made  it  also  the  seat  of  government,  and 
established  the  authorities  there,  subject  to  the  parent 
Church,  in  Germany,  as  the  higher  powers. 

The  spirit  of  this  authority,  and  its  governing  principle, 
having  grown  from  a  monarchial  regime,  claimed  the 
same  as  a  prerogative  here,  and  shed  the  same  influence 
in  all  its  proceedings,  ecclesiastical  or  secular. 

These  constituted  authorities  formed  a  cabinet,  and 
consisted — 


IN    PHILADELPniA.  75 

First,  of  an  Administrator,  who  had  charge  of  the  estates 
belonging  to  the  Church  there,  and  elsewhere,  and  of  the 
financial  department  in  general,  with  discretionary  power 
to  sell,  buy,  borrow,  or  loan,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  the 
titles  of  the  estates  being  vested  in  him  personally  ;  and 
all  moneys  passing  to  and  fro  through  him,  untrammelled 
of  any  security  whatever, — except  the  rendition  of  his 
accounts,  semi-annually,  to  the  parent  authorities  in 
Europe, — in  all  which  the  slightest  dereliction  or  faux 
pas  with  this  functionary  has  never  happened ;  a  most 
wonderful  and  tenacious  faithful  continuance  in  well- 
doing, but  unfortunately  not  very  common  in  the  world. 

Secondly.  A  Conference,  styled  the  "Provincial Helpers' 
Conference,"  as  subject  to  that  in  Europe,  called  the 
*'  Unity's  Elders'  Conference." 

This  body  consisted  of  three  or  five  members,  from  and 
by  whose  authority  emanated  the  ecclesiastical  charge  of 
the  churches;  and,  although  an  ecclesiological  court  of 
appeal,  it  was  not  sufficiently  imbued  with  American 
liberality,  nor,  indeed,  embossed  with  republican  courtesy, 
to  encourage  the  privilege,  or  beckon  a  hope  for  a  recon- 
sideration, or  an  amendment  of  a  mandate  once  gone  from 
its  borders.     I  speak  of  early  times, — 1785. 

The  Bishop,  although  invested  with  plenary  Episcopal 
powers,  did  not  exercise  lordship  over  his  brethren,  nor 
in  any  manner  exercise  the  rigor  over  his  Episcopate, 
excepting  only  where  the  prelatical  duties  of  his  office 
required  his  services,  according  to  the  ritual  of  the 
Church  ;  for  the  rest,  he  acted  in  common  with  his  breth- 
ren in  the  ministry,  subject  to  their  call  for  counsel  or 
conference. 

The  Administrator,  as  well  as  his  colleagues,  being  all 


76  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

ordained  to  minister  in  lioly  things,  constituted  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  authorities  of  the  Church,  from  whom 
issued  orders  for  good  manners  in  their  respective  settle- 
ments, and  pastors  for  the  congregations,  elsewhere  esta- 
blished. 

This  Conference  was  governed  in  all  its  appointments 
by  the  "Lot,"  an  institution  in  the  Church,  founded  on 
apostolic  example;  and,  so  long  as  appealed  to  in  untram- 
melled faith  and  faithfulness,  never  erred,  and  never  could 
err,  whilst  God  is  truth  and  certainty. 

But  of  all  this,  my  history  will  lead  me  hereafter  to  a 
better  and  more  extensive  elucidation. 

The  authority  for  proceedings  being  thus  set  forth,  I 
appeal  to  the  first  regular  minutes,  to  show  the  beginning, 
the  rise,  and  the  progress  of  the  Moravian  Church  in 
Philadelphia. 

The  Eev.  John  de  "Watteville,  familiarly  called  "Bro- 
ther Johannes,"  being  on  a  visit  from  the  parent  Church 
in  Ilerrnhuth,  to  its  branches  in  America,  amongst  other 
places,  visited  the  Philadelphia  gathering,  and  organized 
a  local  governing  power,  of  which  this  power  thus  records. 

"  Sunday,  5th  June,  1785. — The  Committee  appointed 
at  the  visitation  of  Brother  Johannes,  to  transact  the 
business  of  the  United  Brethren's  Church,  in  Philadel- 
phia, met  for  the  first  time,  viz. : 

Bernhardt  Adam  Grube,        , 

Ministers. 


} 


Jacob  Fries, 

Adam  Goose,  George  Senneff*,      ") 

George  Schlosser,     Conrad  Gerhardt,  ( 

-ri-r..  ^     in         T-r  y  Standiuor  Committee." 

John  Peter,  Godfrey  Ha£ 

John  Coruman,        Thomas  Bartow. 


[aga,        f 
artow,     J 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  77 

This  was  considered  and  called  the  "Standing'  Com- 
mittee;" and  for  many  years,  vacancies  by  deatli  or  resig- 
nation were  filled  by  tliemselves. 

Of  this  body,  Thomas  Bartow  was  appointed  secretary, 
and  general  accountant  of  the  Church. 

The  name  of  Brother  Fries  does  not  appear  after  this 
meeting ;  and  Brother  Grube  also  retires  between  the 
months  of  July  and  October  of  this  year,  and  Brother 
John  Meder  succeeds  them  in  the  pastorate. 


78     ,  IIISTOAY   or   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  Xin. 


The  Finances  of  the  Churcli. 


The  finances  of  tlie  cliurch  were  not  only  small,  but 
slow;  and  tlie  minister's  support  was  not  very  luxurious. 
There  was  a  sustentation  account  and  fund,  supplied 
by  voluntary  contribution  ;  but  tlie  paucity  and  uncer- 
tainty of  tlie  supply,  induced  the  committee  to  form  a 
more  reliable  compact,  wbicli  they  did  by  obtaining  regu- 
lar subscriptions  of  20s.  per  share,  per  annum  ;  this,  with 
the  small  income  from  the  frame  shops  on  the  east  and 
south  of  the  premises,  enabled  them  to  support  the  mi- 
nister,'and  keep  the  church  and  adjoining  property  in 
order ;  but,  as  yet,  there  was  no  fixed  amount  allotted  to 
the  minister. 

If  the  general  fund  fell  short,  which  it  did  sometimes, 
the  amount  was  forthwith  raised  by  private  subscription, 
which,  however,  always  fell  on  the  willing  few ;  and  if 
anything  was  over,  which  sometimes  also  happened  by  the 
gathering  up  of  the  arrearages,  such  overplus  was  handed 
over  to  the  minister  as  a  present ! 

But  as  a  missionary  station,  the  congregation  was 
bound  to  support  the  minister  and  his  family  ;  to  wit,  in 
food,  raiment,  light,  and  heat.  The  parsonage  being 
there  for  the  purpose,  of  course  gave  him  house  rent  free. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  79 

In  1788,  there  was  a  deficit  of  1(3/.  4s.,*  which  was  at 
once  made  up  by  a  few  of  the  more  able  members,  and 
the  account  squared. 

In  1795,  a  surplus  of  6L  5s.  was  presented  to  the  mi- 
nister. 

The  abundance  of  money  was  not  the  kind  of  wealth 
that  the  church  required.  There  were  no  artificial  wants, 
and  no  indulgences  in  luxury  of  any  sort ;  the  income 
was  therefore  generally  made  to  fill  the  vacuum  of  expen- 
diture ;  which,  with  economy  and  frugality  hand  in  hand, 
encircled,  and  kept  inordinate  desires  within  bounds. 

Church  collections  were  seldom  resorted  to.  There 
was  one  annually,  for  the  poor,  yielding  from  8/.  to  101. ; 
and  one  for  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  Heathen,  commonly  called  the  "  Heathen 
Society,"  averaging  about  13/.  per  annum  ;  but  there  were 
no  regular  Sunday  collections.  There  was  a  box  fixed  on 
the  inner  side  of  half  the  door  of  egress,  on  the  men's 
and  the  women's  side,  to  receive  the  voluntary  droppings 
of  the  retiring  congregation. 

The  special  collections  were  taken  at  each  door,  on  a 
pewter  plate,  held  by  the  chapel  servant. 

A  rather  ludicrous  circumstance  occurred  at  the  dropping 
of  a  poor  member,  on  a  certain  Sunday  of  the  last  century. 
He  had,  unwittingly,  dropped  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  into 
the  box,  and  upon  discovery  of  the  unintentional  and 
sapping  draft  upon  his  very  limited  finances,  called  early 
on  Monday  to  state  his  grievance  to  the  pastor,  at  the 
same  time  asking  for  his  change,  when  Is.  9d.  was  re- 
stored to  him,  leaving  one  penny  and  a  half  as  his  quota 
to  the  treasury  of  the  church. 

*  Pennsylvania  currency. 


80  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Economy,  frugalit}',  and  measured  ability,  were  bound 
by  the  silver  cords  of  contentment,  and  were  fully  met  by 
the  representative  of  his  church — the  j^astor  loci,  of  whom 
there  could  be  none  more  entitled  to  note  than  he,  whose 
profile  here  witnesses  this  concession  and  tribute  to  his 
memory. 


Rev 


"^^^  ^d^ 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  81 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Brother  John  Meder — His  Character — Anecdote — Costume  and   Classes 
Designated — a  Glimpse  of  the  Requirements  in  Bethlehem. 

Brother  John  Meder  possessed  all  the  qualifications 
of  a  self-sacrificing  missionary.  Industry,  perseverance, 
forbearance,  and  faithful  continuance  in  well-doing,  were 
cardinal  virtues  in  this  faithful  servant  of  God. 

He  was  a  man  small  of  stature,  light  built,  and  of 
doubtful  constitution.  Tet  he  was  indefatigable  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties,  Avhich  were  not  only  clerical, 
but  domestic  and  secular. 

He  preached  regularly  twice  on  Sundays,  calling  the 
youth  of  his  congregation,  after  afternoon  service,  to  his 
shrine  for  catcchization  and  special  religious  instruc- 
tion; the  pleasurable  reference  to  which  rejuvenates  the 
reality  as  I  cast  my  mind's  eye  to  my  post  before  him, 
and,  even  now,  see  the  old  gentleman  leaning  on  his 
table,  inspiring  confidence  in  the  timid  youth,  and  conci- 
liating fear,  to  counteract  the  difference  between  the  cate- 
chist  and  the  catechumen. 

Besides  these  Sunday  services,  he  held  a  meeting  two 
evenings  in  the  week,  to  wit,  AYednesday  and  Friday, 
and  in  addition,  performed  all  the  parochial  duties  in- 
cumbent upon  him,  to  the  sick,  the  well,  the  dead,  or 
the  dying. 

6 


82  HISTORY   OF    THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

To  Lis  domestic  affairs  he  was  no  less  assiduous;  a  strict 
regard  to  economy  drew  upon  his  pliysical  powers,  but 
the  drafts  were  paid  promptly,  and  in  full,  from  the  spare 
moments  of  his  parochial  cares. 

His  garden  was  a  beauty-spot  in  his  realm,  and  its 
fragrance,  its  tasteful  arrangements,  and  fruitful  bearing, 
were  florid  evidences  of  his  untiring  industry ;  and  yet 
with  all  this  active  and  laborious  devotion  to  his  duties, 
no  ill  sprang  up  to  mar  or  counteract  his  vigor. 

The  meek  and  unassuming  bearing  of  this  old  gentle- 
man was  almost  proverbial,  and  the  relief  to  a  subdued 
mind  was  very  seldom  Bought  in  laughter ;  indeed,  it  was 
said  that  he  never  did  laugh,  but  frequently  quoted  the 
preacher,  "I  said  of  laughter.  It  is  mad,  and  of  mirth, 
What  doeth  it?"  Yet  let  me  assure  the  reader  that  he 
was  no  drone,  nor  was  he  chilling  in  his  mien  by  a  dis- 
ciplined sanctimonious  rigidity. 

As  before  stated,  the  parsonage  was  a  large  building, 
and  so  arranged  that  brethren  visiting  the  city  might 
there  be  provided  for,  and  hence  its  proper  name  was 
the  "Brethren's  House."'  Tradition,  and  it  is  very  direct, 
gives  a  pithy  anecdote  of  the  simplicity  of  an  old-time 
brother.  Such  a  one  being  then  and  there  hospitably 
entertained,  shortly  after  his  first  arrival  in  the  city,  left 
the  house  after  tea,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  an  evening 
walk.  The  pastor,  of  course,  awaited  an  early  return,  for 
the  city  was  not  then  very  extensive.  Time  passed  on, 
wasting  patronage  and  patience.  'Nme  o'clock  was  the 
usual  hour  for  retirement,  yet  ten  came,  but  not  the  absent 
brother.  Fear  and  trembling  beset  the  patient  pastor, 
when  eleven  o'clock  announced  its  proximity  to  midnight, 
yet  no  Brother  S . 


IN    FHILADELPHIA.  83 

The  old  gentleman  nearly  worn  to  a  lethargy  was  sud- 
denly aroused  by  the  significant  tap  of  the  ponderous 
iron  knocker.     It  was  the  stray  brother. 

"Dear  brother,"  said  the  kindly  host,  "in  all  the 
world,  where  have  you  been,  till  this  time  of  night?" 

"  Why,"  said  the  delinquent,  "I  walked  up  one  street  and 
down  another,  and  saw  in  one  of  them,  a  place  all  lit  up, 
and  I  went  in  to  see  what  it  meant.  It  was  very  pretty ; 
pictures  changed  from  one  thing  to  another, — all  sorts 
of  dress, — music,  and  all  sorts  of  queer  doings.  I  staid 
till  they  were  done,  and  was  amused  without  thinking  of 
time." 

This  woke  the  old  gentleman  to  a  pungent,  but  pas- 
toral reproof. 

"My  brother,"  said  he,  "you  have  been  in  the  play- 
house !  an  indulgence  entirely  forbidden  to  professing 
Christians;"  and  a  befitting  lecture  ensued. 

This  is  neither  cant,  nor  caprice,  but  a  specimen  of 
old-time  simplicity  and  naivete. 

The  inimitable  Goldsmith  has  depicted  the  portrait  of 
our  pastor  in  the  character  of  his,  of  the  Deserted  Vil- 
lage ;  and  I,  therefore,  adopt  it,  as  a  beautifully  graphic 
concentration  of  his  virtues  : 

"  Unskilful  he  to  fawn,  or  seek  for  power, 
By  doctrines  fashioned  to  the  varying  hour ; 
For,  other  aims  his  heart  had  learned  to  prize, 
More  bent  to  raise  the  wretched,  than  to  rise." 

It  was  the  privilege  of  your  author  to  receive  the  rite 
of  Holy  Baptism  at  the  hands  of  this  venerable  servant 
of  God  (anno  1792),  and  to  experience  in  after-life  the 


84  IirSTORT   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CIIUKCH 

fervency  of  his  supplications,  as  he  mingled  them  Avith 
his  benediction,  in  his  offerings  at  the  ha[)tismal  font. 

I  cannot  pass  this  point  of  my  history,  "without  a 
respectful  notice  of  the  good  wife,  the  helpmate  of  this 
house.  Meek,  mild,  modest,  and  unassuming,  this  lady 
matronized  her  department  to  the  credit  of  her  church, 
and  the  plenary  comforts  of  her  guests.  Her  duties 
were  not  confined  to  domestic  economy,  hut  were 
expanded  to  services  of  the  parish,  besides  the  incum- 
bency of  serving  at  the  Holy  Communion ;  she,  taking 
the  sister's  side,  whilst  her  husband,  the  minister,  served 
the  brethren.  Unadorned  by  fancy  or  fashion,  her 
apparel  was  chaste  and  simplified.  A  calico  short-gown, 
calamanco  petticoat,  a  white  linen  apron,  and  a  "long- 
eared  cap,"  were  the  accepted  weekday  offering  of  her 
presence ;  but  hers,  the  usual  full  Moravian  Sunday 
attire,  requires  an  artist  to  depict ;  which  I  present,  not 
as  a  likeness  of  Sister  Meder,  except  in  costume ;  the 
portrait  itself  having  been  made  some  years  ago,  by  the 
Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Van  Vleck,  the  pastor  of  this  church, 
from  1814  to  1820,  as  a  likeness  of  his  mother,  and  as 
for  such  I  offer  my  attest,  having  been  well  acquainted 
with  her  fifty  years  ago,  and  long  after. 

This  costume  was  not  confined  to  that  day,  though 
more  general  amongst  the  sisters  than  it  has  been  since, 
i.  e.,  in  the  country  congregations.  It  was  obligatory 
till  1819,  when  the  governing  power  at  Herrnhuth,  giving 
heed  to  an  appeal  for  one  less  peculiar,  option  was  per- 
mitted to  propitiate  compulsion,  and  the  rule,  as  such, 
was  abrogated. 

Notwithstanding  the  privilege  to  abandon,  many  of 
the  elder  sisters  adhered  to  their  pristine  taste,  and  the 


IN    PIIILADELPniA.  85 

cap,  and  the  smooth,  three-cornered  kcrcliief  may  yet  be 
seen  in  the  congregation  places,*  contrasting  the  beant^'- 
of  simplicity  with  the  wayward  fancy  of  the  march  of 
improvement. 

In  those  days,  besides  the  separation  of  the  sexes,  they 
were  divided  into  choirs  or  classes,  and  designated  by 
the  color  of  the  cap-tie.  The  widows  wore  a  white 
ribbon  to  their  caps ;  the  married  women,  a  blue  ;  the 
single  sisters,  a  pink;  and  the  great  girls,  of  twelve  to 
sixteen  years  of  age,  red. 

The  brethren  had,  also,  their  denomination  as  widowers, 
married  and  single  brethren,  great  boys  (Knaben),  who, 
though  not  in  our  day,  designated  by  colors  of  any  pecu- 
liar hue,  had  then  their  respective  department  in  the  con- 
gregational arrangements  ;  and,  like  the  sisters,  had  their 
respective  and  special  festivals. 

There  was,  however,  a  time,  when  the  wilderness  on 
the  Lehigh  was  receding,  and  yielding  its  forest  to  the 
axe,  the  wedge,  and  the  hammer ;  and  the  earth's  bowels 
were  wrought  for  the  health  and  power  of  its  wealth  ; 
when  Bethlehem  was  started  to  the ,  surface,  from  its 
hidden  sources — the  earliest  day  of  Moravianism  in 
America — then,  at  and  about  that  time,  the  colored 
ribbon  did  tell  what  party  might  be  their  owner,  so  that 
when  certain  habiliments  were  doomed  to  ablution,  they 
might  pass  the  legitimate  ordeal. 

Two  of  the  early  patrons  of  this  settlement  (Brethren), 
were  yet  living,  in  1833  and  1834,  and  often  entertained 
me  with  legends  of  their  day,  and  doings ;  the  one  as 
washerwoman,  the  other  as  laborer  in  the  quarries. 

*  Country  congregations,  Bethlehem,  Nazareth.  Litiz,  &c. 


86  HISTOllY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

Tlie  widows,  single  sisters,  and  single  brethren,  having 
their  own  separate  houses,  called  "Choir  Houses,"  con- 
ducted their  domestic  economy  within  their  immediate 
sphere;  and  direct  intercourse  between  the  sexes  beiilg 
interdicted,  intermediate  association  was  rendered  imprac- 
ticable by  an  absolute  non-intercourse  of  their  habili- 
ments ;  and  hence,  the  important  office  of  washerwoman 
was  conferred  upon  my  ancient  friend,  a  native  of  Bethle- 
hem, of  1758.  The  other,  also  an  associate  with  its  very 
infancy,  although  ten  years  younger  than  the  first  named. 

In  all  this  we  have  a  sample  of  the  self-sacrificing  prin- 
ciple and  unsophisticated  simplicity  of  the  young  breth- 
ren to  identify  themselves,  and  grow  up  with  the  then 
infant  Bethlehem. 

Dollars  and  cents  were  not  a  consideration ;  they  worked 
for  and  through  each  other;  and  the  common  treasury 
furnished  the  ordinary;  for,  like  the  Apostles,  "  they  had 
all  things  in  common." 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  87 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Chapel  Servants — Jacob  Frank — Jacob  Ritter,  Sr. — Zachariah  Poulson, 
the  Elder — Sketches  of  Character — Duties — Performances,  Inviters,  &c. 

The  interregnum  just  passed,  having  its  link  some- 
where in  the  sequel,  I  again  take  up  the  thread  of  my 
history,  and  pass  on  to  the  more  immediate  associations 
of  offices  and  officers  of  the  time  before  us. 

The  chapel  servants  were  volunteer  sextons,  and  served 
in  turn,  according  to  agreement  amongst  themselves. 

Two,  however,  were  usually  in  service  every  Sunday; 
the  one  sat  on  the  wall  bench,  behind  the  men's  door,  for 
the  purpose  of  waiting  on  strangers,  and  also  to  watch 
the  boys  who  might  attempt  to  go  into  the  gallery.  The 
other,  on  the  wall  bench,  at  the  door  opening  into  the 
church  from  the  parsonage,  for  the  purpose,  as  before 
stated,  of  waiting  on  the  minister,  as  well  as  to  watch  the 
occasionally  restive  and  tittering  youth,  as  they  ranged 
with  his  eye,  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  Of  these  brethren, 
no  menial  services  were  required. 

The  housemaid  of  the  parsonage,  included  the  service 
of  making  the  fire  in  the  stove,  bringing  up  wood,  sweep- 
ing and  sanding  the  floor,  aye,  and  unfastening  the  church 
doors,  and  opening  the  gate  on  Race  Street ;  all  in  her 
wages  of  five  shillings, — 67  cents  a  week.  ' 

The  scrubbing  of  the  floor,  however,  and  washing  of 


88  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

windows,  was  by  order  of,  and  paid  for  by  the  com- 
mittee. 

But  it  was  ever  and  anon,  "  a  nicely  sanded  floor,"  and 
was  a  credit  to  the  watchful  eye  and  ready  hand  that 
kept  it  so  ;  and  "  Kate,"  though  a  housemaid,  being  faithful 
to  her  trust,  fairly  deserves  a  line  in  the  annals  of  her 
church.     "  Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due." 

This  female  functionary  filled  the  station,  as  well  that 
of  femme  de  chainhre  as  chef  de  la  cuisine,  besides  vent- 
ing her  ambition  on  the  church  and  its  furniture,  fo.r 
"upwards  of  twenty  years  ;  most  of  the  time,  at  the  afore- 
said 5s.  per  w^eek — the  usual  wages  of  the  day — but  sub- 
sequently raised  to  7s.  Gd.,  or  $1  per  week,  and  no  choice 
as  to  what  she' would,  or  Avhat  she  would  not  do.  The 
march  of  improvement  had  not  yet  reversed  domestic 
economy,  and  refined  the  maid  to  educate  the  mistress. 

Of  the  chapel  servants,  after  Brother  John  Mark,  wdio 
served  for  two  years,  a  venerable  and  kindly  brother, 
Jacob  Frank,  being  the  first  regularlj-  appointed,  in  De- 
cember, 1787,  is  justly  entitled  to  respectful  notice  and 
perpetuity. 

Having  served  in  this  capacity,  and  other  useful  ofiices 
in  the  church,  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  he  covers  my 
time,  and  furnishes  data  from  the  liveliest  recollections. 

There  is  not  a  boy  or  girl,  who  sat  upon  the  low  bench 
in  front  of  the  table,  that,  were  he  or  she  yet  here,  would 
not  bear  happy  testimony  to  the  friendly  mien  of  this 
old  gentleman;  and  when  his  significant  "  Boys !"  came 
out,  it  came  kindly.  Terror  was  not  in  his  breath,  nor 
fear  from  its  issue.  None  feared  him  ;  all  loved  him,  and 
one  gentle  "  Boys  !"  was  enough. 

He  was  wont  to  parade  up  and  down  before  us,  calmly 


JACOB     RITTER 

Sei\ior. 


IN    PIIILADELPIIIA.  89 

watching  onr  movements,  and  especially  preparatory  to 
love-feast;  placing  us  according  to  age,  and  sometimes 
size,  but  never  according  to  fractions, — dollars  and  cents. 
He  was  impartial  in  liis  attentions ;  but  naturally  re- 
garded those  most,  who  behaved  best. 

His  olive  breeches,  of  velvet  or  corduroy,  brindled 
stockings,  and  shoes  to  fit  the  foot ;  his  dark  brown  coat, 
and  copious  vest,  pass,  even  now,  before  me  with  their 
venerable  charge  of  thoughtful,  truthful,  and  suavitous 
bearing,  and  revive  a  happy,  and  an  almost  tangible  re- 
miniscence. 

Mr.  Frank  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  lived  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Fourth  and  Noble  Streets,  a  hollow 
then,  being  the  terminus  of  the  declivity  from  Callowhill 
Street ;  a  lonely,  and  very  disagreeable  walk ;  which  I 
sometimes  had  to  do  after  night;  and  as  often  exercised 
my  musical  powers,  by  whistling  up  my  courage  at  every 
step. 

He  departed  this  life,  November  26,  1819,  aged  76 
years,  1  month,  and  15  days. 

The  next  in  immediate  connection  with  this  service, 
was  my  own  venerable  and  dearly  beloved  sire  ;  whose 
plain  ajDparel,  very  like  that  just  described,  except  that 
he  wore  silver  buckles,  was  adorned  with  a  godly  inherit- 
ance, freely  beaming  from  a  countenance  evidently  at 
peace  with  God  and  man.  It  does  not,  however,  behoove 
me  here  to  set  him  forth  ;  but  I  may,  and  I  do,  most  sin- 
cerely, thank  God  for  his  existence,  and  its  salutary  in- 
fluence upon  my  moral  and  religious  bearing,  thus  far 
through  life.  His  walks  and  conduct  bore  testimony  to 
the  meditations  of  his  heart ;  consistency  with  his  profes- 
sion being  his  conscientious  study. 


90  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

Having  been  an  early  member  of  the  Soclet}^,  almost 
in  its  embryo,  admitted  as  sucli  after  a  considerable  con- 
test with  his  father,  who  was  a  Lutheran,  and  also  a  man 
of  piety,  in  July,  1774,  I  take  the  liberty  of  presenting 
the  annexed  very  correct  copy  from  a  portrait  by  the  late 
J.  F.  Krimmel,  in  1818. 

He  departed  this  life,  ISTovember  3d,  1834,  aged  80 
years,  less  15  days. 

We  have,  hov/ever,  another  contemporary  in  this  de- 
partment, in  the  person  and  services  of  Zachariah  Poul- 
son. 

This  old  gentleman  was  appointed  in  1801,  and  served 
till  1804, — the  time  of  his  death.  A  countenance  on 
which  nature  had  shed  its  bounty,  was  ever  enhanced  and 
lit  up  by  the  evidences  of  a  happy  train  of  mental  asso- 
ciations. 

His  commands  were  "few  and  far  between,"  but  not 
the  less  known.  The  serenity  of  his  countenance  con- 
veyed his  desires  in  the  calm  of  his  kindly  smile. 

Mr.  Poulson  was  the  father  of  the  late  Zachariah  Poul- 
son,  editor  and  proprietor  of  Poulson's  American  Daily 
Advertiser.  "^ 

He  was  a  native  of  Copenhagen,  in  Denmark,  born 
16th  of  June,  1737,  but  immigrated  to  this  countrj-  in  1749, 
with  his  father,  whose  name  was  N^icholas  Poulson,  also 
a  printer. 

Our  Mr.  Poulson  was  a  widower  and  lived  with  his  son, 
the  editor.* 

*  I  am  indebted  to  his  grandson,  Mr.  C.  A.  Poulson,  for  the  following 
historical  sketch  of  his  venerable  sire. 

Zachariah  Poulson,  ray  paternal  grandfather,  was  born  in  Copenhagen, 
the  metropolis  of  Denmark,  on  the  IGth  day  of  June,  A.D.  1737.      His 


K^  '^^ 


life 


ZACIIAKIA     POXLSOIV 

The  Elder. 


IX    PniLADELPIIIA.  91 

His  apparel  was  light  drab,  plain  cut  coat,  and 
breeches  in  old-time  fashion.  Suspenders  were  not 
known ;  but  he,  and  his  colleagues  in  the  church  service, 
were  all  plain  Quaker-dressed  brethren. 

These  were  a  trio  of  Christian  gentlemen,  exemplars 

father,  Nicholas  Poulson,  or  Paulsens  (as  I  find  it  written  by  him  in  docu- 
ments in  my  possession),  after  the  decease  of  his  wife,  emigrated,  on 
account  of  his  religion,  to  this  country,  with  his  only  child  (Zachariah), 
and  arrived  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  in  the  year  1749.  He  died 
at  Germantown  a  few  years  thereafter. 

My  grandfather  was  a  printer.  He  was  taught  the  art  by  the  celebrated 
Christopher  Sower,  a  German  printer,  (spelt,  in  the  German  language, 
Sauer.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  fashion  in  those  days,  to  anglicise 
foreign  names),  then  a  resident  of  Germantown,  Pa.  Sower,  like  his 
great  predecessor,  Fanst,  manufactured  his  own  materials — types,  printing 
ink,  paper,  &c.  He  printed  the  Jii'st  edition  of  the  Holy  Bible  published 
in  the  United  States  ;  it  is  in  the  German  language.  He  issued  from  his 
press  three  editions  of  that  work,  viz.,  in  1743,  17G2,  and  177G;  the 
greater  portion  of  the  latter,  in  his  possession,  was  confiscated  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  used  as  cartridge  paper. 

My  grandfather  married  Anna  Barbara  Stallenberger,  daughter  of 
Andrew,  of  that  name,  late  of  Lindenbach,  near  Werthcim  Leibenstein, 
Germany.  He  (the  latter)  likewise  emigrated  from  his  native  laud  for  the 
enjoyment  of  religious  freedom,  after  having  sold  his  property.  He  died 
thi'ee  days  before  the  arrival  of  the  vessel,  and  was  buried  at  New  Castle, 
Delaware.  "  He  was  eminent  for  his  piety,  and  other  good  qualities." 
His  family  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  and  settled  at  Germantown,  in  the 
year  1752. 

My  grandfather  deceased  in  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of  June,  1804.  It 
is  I'ecorded  of  him,  "  that  he  has  always  been  esteemed,  by  those  who 
knew  him,  for  his  integrity,  for  the  sincerity  and  ardor  of  his  friendship, 
and  for  his  amiable  and  inofiensive  deportment."  He  departed  this  life 
with  that  resignation  and  humble  coufidence  which  is  inspired  l)y  religion 
and  the  consciousness  of  a  well-spent  life.  His  remains  were  borne  to  the 
cemetery  of  the  Moravian  Church  by  his  brethren  of  the  typographical  art, 
and  interred  in  the  presence  of  a  considerable  number  of  his  relations. 


92  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

of  their  profession,  unblemished  in  character,  and  un- 
soiled  of  evil  report,  and  even  yet  form  an  entablature  in 
the  vista  of  time,  a  light  to  its  perspective,  and  a  sweet- 
smelling  savor  to  the  avenue  of  fondling  memory. 

There  were  two  other  important  appendages  to  church- 
government,  or  rather  outside  regulations,  to  wit:  a 
Grave-digger,  and  an  Inviter.  History  claims  their 
manes,  and  though  minor  in  capacity,  they  belong  to 
the  compass  of  our  times. 

A  certain  Jacob  Ettwein  performed  the  silent  duty  of 
preparing  the  pit.  He  was  appointed,  March,  1786,  but 
it  appears  from  the  records,  that  his  inattention  to  his 
duties,  becoming  employer,  instead  of  employed,  begat  him 
censure  and  threats  of  discharge. 

The  most  important  official  in  this  department  was  the 
Inviter.  This  office  required  more  intelligence  than  that 
of  his  associate's  finale,  the  preface  to  which  must  be  set 
forth  not  onlj'  intelligibly  but  geographically. 

Typography  was  not  yet  the  '■^multum  in  parvo,'"  nor 
penmanshiii  "aii  fait,'"  at  a  moment's  warning.  Invita- 
tions were,  therefore,  neither  printed  nor  wu'itten,  nor 
yet  a  fleet  and  elastic  "Bogle,"  to  trip  over  the  pave  and 
bounce  from  step  to  step,  to  distribute  the  respectful 
civilities  of  mourning  friends. 

The  respective  churches  had  their  respective  Inviters, 
who  with  note  in  one  hand  and  cane  in  the  other,  with 
measured  step,  passed  from  house  to  house,  gave  the 
significant  tap  of  the  knocker,  awaited  the  call,  and  then 
in  sober,  qualified  tone,  thus  relieved  himself: 

"  This  family  is  particularly  invited  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  S.  S,,  from  his  late  dwelling,  jSTo.  — ,  North 
or  South Street,  to-morrow  afternoon,  at  3  o'clock." 


IN    PniLADELrillA.  93 

This  message  was  generally  a  curt  expression,  Ijut 
sometimes  a  loquacious  vein  would  spin  the  pedigree  of 
the  subject,  to  the  enlightenment  or  edification  of  the 
very  willing,  and  perhaps  inquisitive  listener. 

The  Moravian  Church,  being  as  yet  circumscribed  in 
numbers,  had  none  in  their  immediate  circle  to  serve  in 
this  capacity,  and  they,  therefore,  employed  this  func- 
tionary of  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  and  Henry 
Cress  became  this  incumbent  in  1795.  How  long  he 
served,  our  history  saith  not ;  but  that  George  Gossner, 
a  dapper  little,  friendly,  gentlemanly  man,  also  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  was  a  successor  in  this  office,  came 
within  my  own  knowledge,  is  as  certain  as  the  record  of 
the  former. 

Li  whatever  light  this  occupation  may  be  viewed  nowa- 
days, it  was  not  without  tone  then  ;  and  good  manners 
and  respectable  character  were  indispensable  in  the 
applicant.  To  this  record  bears  evidence,  in  its  tale  of 
rejection  of  some  less  available. 


94  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

The  Bm-ial-Grouud — Order  of  Sei'vices,  &c. 

This  clepositoiy  was  purchased  and  tlins  appropriated, 
as  before  stated,  in  1757.  The  lot  appears  to  have  been 
unprotected,  except  by  post  and  rail  fence,  till  1786,  when 
order  was  taken  by  the  Committee  of  the  Church  "  to 
purchase  four  thousand  feet  of  ISTew  England  pine  boards, 
to  make  a  board  fence,  around  our  burying-ground,"  of 
which  report  was  rendered,  and  account  of  particulars 
stated,  amounting  to  50?.  11a.  3tZ.,  which  sum,  as  the 
brethren  always  counted  the  cost  of  the  undertakings  in 
advance,  was  immediately  gathered  and  paid. 

As  death  levels  all  of  life,  ornamental  or  distinctive 
memorabilia  were  not  allowed  to  disturb  the  simple  uni- 
formity of  the  tokens  of  remembrance ;  the  marble  slab 
was  even  limited  in  its  length  and  breadth,  to  twelve  by 
eighteen  inches,  and  these  all  flat,  on  the  mound  that 
heaves  to  the  eye,  the  silent  but  imposing  "  Memento 
Mori." 

So  fastidious  were  the  guardians  of  this  order,  even  so 
late  as  1820,  that  a  considerable  sacrifice  was  made  to 
principle,  in  the  refusal  of  a  vault  to  a  wealthy  contri- 
butor, for  an  after  consideration  of  $7500. 

This    principle,  however,  has    since  fallen   a  prey  to 


m   PHILADELPHIA.  95 

caprice,  and  various  sizes  of  affection's  tablet,  dispute  tlie 
palm  of  the  earlier,  well-ordered,  and  more  simple  tokens 
of  affection. 

Although  the  church  was  located  so  far  from  the  bury- 
ing-ground,  it  appears  to  have  been  customary  to  carry 
the  corpse  of  the  deceased  to  the  church,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  funeral  rites,  and  a  succinct  biography  was  first 
read.  In  1789,  however,  the  practice  was  discontinued; 
and  the  services  requested  to  be  performed  at  the  grave.* 

The  streets  in  this  section  of  the  Northern  Liberties, 
being  as  yet  not  graded,  left  the  plot  considerably  above 
the  level,  and  hence  the  difference  at  this  day,  between 
the  one  and  the  other.  .The  grade,  however,  appears  to 
have  been  made  in  1805 ;  allusion  being  then  made  to  it, 
and  resolutions  passed,  to  "  remove  the  fence  and  erect  a 
brick  wall,"  which  was  done;  and  stood  without  spring 
or  warp  until  1856;  when  taste,  judgment,  fancy,  and 
liberality  conspired  against  it,  and  the  march  of  improve- 
ment did  actually  ofler  an  amendment  to  the  resolve  of 
our  fathers;  the  better  to  harmonize  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  as  the  present  new  church  edifice,  and  its  illustrated 
appurtenances,  more  elaborately  set  forth. 

The  erect  permanence  and  durability  of  this  wall,  for 
half  a  century,  was  a  wonder  to  very  many  inquirers,  its 
visible  thickness  being  only  nine  inches  on  Franklin 
Street,  and  scant  thirteen  inches  on  Vine  Street;  but  the 
recent  removal  of  the  wall  disclosed  the  secret,  in  a  stub- 
born inner  Avail  of  stone,  of  about  two  feet  in  height,  and 

*  In  the  town  or  congregation  places,  tins  custom  yet  prevails,  in  which 
the  deceased  having  kept  an  account  of  himself,  his  biography  is  read;  or 
a  general  history  from  other  sources  is  given,  but  the  funeral  service  is  read 
at  the  ffrave. 


9G  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

» 

one  foot  thick,  intended  no  doubt  as  an  additional  sup- 
port to  the  ground,  so  far  above  the  street  level;  serving, 
however,  the  double  purpose  of  protecting  the  outer  wall ; 
and  this  base,  thanks  to  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers,  con- 
tinues its  service  behind  the  new  wall,  perpetuating  their 
memory  and  confirming  our  acknowledgments. 

This  ground  was  purchased,  by  the  congregation  of  1757, 
and  conveyed  to  it,  for  the  special  use  of  its  actual  church 
members,  and  such  persons  as  stand  in  religious  society, 
or  otherwise,  in  connection  with  them. 

To  such,  therefore,  there  was  no  charge  made  for  break- 
ing the  ground,  the  grave-digger  and  the  inviter  being 
the  only  beneficiaries  of  this  department,  the  former  re- 
ceiving three  dollars  for  each  grave,  and  the  latter,  one 
dollar  for  his  prior  services,  and  his  safe  conduct  of  the 
respectful  and '  sympathizing  train,  for  the  inviter  always 
preceded  the  cortege. 

Despite  the  rule,  there  were  many  urging  relationship, 
however  remote,  and  claiming  rights  by  a  sort  of  col- 
lateral ■  inheritance,  which  being  unprofitable,  as  it  w^as 
troublesome,  a  rigid  observance  of  the  rule  became  neces- 
sary,— a  very  important  protective  system  over  such 
limited  means. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  97 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Discipline. 

Associations,  moral,  religious,  or  political,  must  of 
necessity  be  subject  to  a  proper  discipline;  and,  wbetber 
gentle  or  severe,  a  due  observance  is  incumbent  upon  its 
members. 

A  religious  society,  however,  being  the  especial  safe- 
guard of  doctrine,  according  to  godliness  and  consequent 
sound  principles,  accountability  is  exacted  of  it,  and 
jealousy  of  a  consistent  bearing  and  characteristic  exam- 
ple of  its  body,  demands  a  watchful  care  over  its  spiritual 
possessions. 

Unfledged  in  worldly  waywardness,  but  of  demeanor 
imbued  with  Christian  simplicity,  these  early  brethren 
strove  earnestly  to  keep  themselves  in  "the  unity  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  bond  of  peace ;"  and,  to  this  end,  their 
requirements  were,  although  rigid,  the  essence  of  upright- 
ness of  thought  and  intention;  yet,  however  administered, 
in  all  meekness  and  forbearance. 

The  absence  of  record,  for  the  first  forty  years  of  their 
social  existence,  debars  me  aught  of  written  or  printed 
dates  touching  this  order  of  things ;  but  the  rays  of  their 
light  had  beggared  time,  and  sped  their  genial  influence 
into  the  hearts  and  minds  of  their  s^iccessors,  whilst  the 

7 


98  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

halo  of  tlieir  spiritual  might  lit  up  a  path  to  their  future 
footsteps. 

"Whilst  theatres  were  repudiated  as  a  "school  of 
morals,"  dancing  was  denounced  as  a  consideration  for 
healthful  exercise ;  balls  were  not  allowed  as  a  relish  to 
the  trials  of  life,  nor  caprices  of  any  sort  permitted  to 
excite  the  palate  to  a  depraved  appetite. 

Politics  or  political  associations  were  discountenanced 
and  held  as  amongst  the  "  evil  communications  that  cor- 
rupt good  manners." 

The  society  consisted  nearly,  if  not  quite  all,  of  com- 
municant members,  who  were,  therefore,  a  guard  and  a 
check  to  each  other;  but  the  supervision  was  in  the 
Bishop  and  his  ministers,  who  spared  not  the  rod  to  spoil 
the  "  babe  in  Christ;"  hence,  when  a  brother  accident- 
ally fell  into  a  gap  in  his  profession,  and  the  mysterious 
lights  allured  him  whither  he  else  would  not,  the  goodly 
shepherd  sheared  him  at  once  of  the  soft  and  woolly 
covering  of  his  apologies,  and  bid  him  to  sin  no  more  in 
that  way.  Up  to  a  certain  time,  these  observances  needed 
no  enactment ;  the  law  was  in  their  hearts,  and  they  were 
"a  law  unto  themselves." 

The  watchful  care  of  the  venerable  Bishop  Ettwein, 
however,  was  called  to  an  exordium,  in  1795,  by  a  sideling 
of  some  of  his  flock  in  Lancaster,  into  the  political  arena, 
and  the  Conference  at  Bethlehem,  through  him,  to  the 
committee  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia,  deplore  the 
dereliction  of  "  some  of  the  brethren  in  Lancaster,  who 
had  joined  a  political  body  called  Democrats,  and  even 
accepted  of  office  therein ;  such  conduct  being  inconsis- 
tent with  not  only  good  order,  but  with  the  rules  laid 
down  for  us  by  our  Saviour." 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  99 

They,  the  Conference,  "  therefore  exhort  the  brethren 
not  to  meddle  in  any  political  afiairs  and  controversies, 
but  rather  strive  to  seek  the  peace  of  the  places  wherein 
we  dwell." 

"Well,  indeed,  would  it  be,  had  all  the  clergy  kept  this 
faith ;  well  for  their  own  peace,  and  well  for  their  flocks. 

Political  excitement  is,  at  best,  disaffecting  in  church 
and  state  ;  but,  when  the  herald  of  the  Cross  becomes  a 
champion  for  fancied  political  rights,  takes  his  stand  on 
the  curb,  or  is  jostled  to  the  ballot-box,  amidst  the  excited 
opposition  of  jeers  and  gibes,  chafed  by  an  opposing  mem- 
ber of  his  own  church,  his  clerical  influence  must  be 
scathed  of  the  softness  of  its  sanctity,  whilst  his  early 
vows  are  lost,  for  the  time,  in  the  vapor  of  political  strife. 

It  is  true,  many  worthy,  highly  respected,  and  lovely 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  considered  their  elective 
franchise  a  national  blessing,  and  an  important  duty,  but 
without  much  research,  even  they  could  not  be  advised 
of  the  arcana  of  politics,  but  their  pulpits  remained  also 
unadvised,  whilst  to  their  charge  below  or  abroad,  their 
sentiments  were  a  dead  letter. 

In  all  this,  I  do  not  deny  rights  and  privileges  to  the 
clergy;  but  the  expediency  of  the  exercise  of  these  immu- 
nities is  questionable  when  the  "peace  of  our  Jerusalem" 
is  at  stake,  and  "the  peace  of  the  places  wherein  we 
dwell  is  in  danger  of  suffocation  in  the  angry  fumes  of 
political  exhalations."  St.  Paul  says,  "All  things  are 
lawful  for  me*,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient." 

Parties  were  not  admissible  as  a  medium  to  discount 
time,  or  an  amusing  expedient  to  nurse  the  day  in  the 
bosom  of  the  night. 

They  were  not  allowed  as  propitiatory  oflferings  to  the 


100  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

ordinary  duties  of  the  day,  nor  countenanced  as  a  balanc- 
ing power  of  the  day-worn  mind. 

Nor  yet  was  tlie  social  circle  impugned !  Hospitality 
was  not  at  bay,  nor  friendly  associations  chilled  by  the 
frowns  of  a  sanctimonious  brow. 

Religion  did  not  make  their  pleasures  less ;  but  their 
desires  were  regulated  by  it,  whilst  their  conceptions 
were  chastened  by  its  influence. 

Their  evening  gatherings  were  pleasurable  arrange- 
ments, and  the  social  tea-cup  passed  from  hand  to  hand, 
without  the  aid  of  a  sable  attendant. 

Their  festivity  consisted  more  in  sentimental  passes 
than  luxurious  offerings ;  whilst  the  needle,  or  even  the 
spindle,  gave  a  zest  to  the  "flight  of  time." 

Four  P.M.  was  late  to  begin,  and  nine  full  time  to  end. 

In  those  days,  day  was  day ;  evening  was  evening ;  and 
night  was  night. 

It  must,  however,  be  conceded  that,  "  the  spirit  of  the 
age"  had  not  given  birth  to  nocturnal  embellishments  as 
of  the  present  day,  but  what  may  have  been  rife  of 
fanciful  exhibitions,  were  disallowed  as  obnoxious  to  the 
observance  due  to  the  moral,  as  well  as  the  religious, 
bearing  of  the  society. 

Nor  can  it  be  denied,  that  even  within  these  limits 
there  were  some  untoward  subjects.  Nay,  Time's  tell- 
tale, History,  says  there  were ;  but  they  did  not  pass  the 
ordeal  of  the  pastorate. 

Dereliction  from  the  path  of  rectitude  Vas  dealt  with 
firmly,  but  in  the  "spirit  of  meekness;"  but  contumacy 
resulted  in  expulsion  from  the  society. 

To  this  end  a  special,  but  private  meeting  of  the  Con- 
gregation (communicants)  was  held  in  the  hall,  where 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  101 

good  reasons  were  given,  and  the  difficult  member  was 
"  read  out  of  meeting." 

To  these  proceedings  my  duties  as  bellows-hoy,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  necessarily  made  me  a 
witness. 

The  paucity  of  members  was  no  bar  to  the  execution 
of  their  laws ;  nor  were  they  so  subject  to  the  "  unhappy 
desire  of  becoming  great"  as  to  increase  their  numbers  by 
proselytism  or  improper  indulgence. 

Fruit  of  their  labor  was  certainly  desirable,  and  they 
as  certainly  sought  it;  but  it  must  needs  be  good  fruit, 
gleanings  from  the  chaif  of  the  world. 

It  was,  therefore,  not  so  easy  to  be  admitted  into  their 
society,  and  yet  more  trying  to  be  admitted  into  close 
Communion.  Applicants  were  required  to  wait  six 
months  before  they  could  be  received,  and  then  only 
after  a  walk  and  demeanor  consistent  with  their  reli- 
gious intentions,  besides  the  imstoral  of  the  minister  in 
various  private  interviews  during  this  probation.  Can- 
didates for  the  Holy  Communion  were  more  scrutinously 
examined,  and  were  required  to  understand  themselves, 
before  they  could  be  fully  introduced  to  that  circle ;  but, 
as  the  Conference  at  Bethlehem  was  the  senatus  con- 
sultum  and  a  guard  over  all  their  outer  churches,  their 
application  had  first  to  pass  that  ordeal,  under  the 
direction  of  the  lot,  in  which  the  Conference  "made 
known  to  God,  their  wants,  by  prayer  and  supplication" 
(of  which,  more  in  its  order).  There  were,  therefore, 
very  few  delinquents  in  this  infant  society,  not  over  three 
being  noted  in  the  first  sixty  years  of  its  being,  and  these 
were  not  close  members.  The  expulsions,  alluded  to 
heretofore,  belong  to  the  present  century. 


102  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

The  Bishop  made  frequent  visits  to  the  church,  for 
whom  the  Standing  Committee  was  always  immediately 
convened,  and  a  kindly  investigation  into  the  spiritual 
state  of  the  congregation,  as  well  as  a  sympathy  with  its 
temporal  affairs,  was  entered  into,  and  in  conformity 
with  our  Saviour's  injunction  to  his  disciples,  to  "love 
one  another,"  the  Bishop's  first  inquiry  was,  "Brethren, 
do  you  love  one  another  in  sincerity?"  thus  simplifying 
instead  of  sublimating  his  prelacy. 

Under  such  and  corresponding  influences  of  the  rulers 
of  the  church,  the  Discipline,  however  peculiar,  was 
accepted  and  observed,  more  as  a  conjugal  requirement, 
than  an  Egyptian  task. 

The  corresponding  influences  flowed  from  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  Church,  and  the  careful  example  of  its 
rulers,  who  fully  practised  what  they  preached,  or,  as 
David  has  it  in  his  106th  Psalm,  thus  rendered : 

"  Happy  are  they,  and  only  they, 
Who  from  thy  j  udgments  never  stray, 
Who  know  what's  right,  nor  only  so, 
But  always  practise  what  they  know." 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  103 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Pedelavium,  or  Washing  of  Feet. 

The  Moravians,  individually  and  collectively,  being 
evangelical,  beyond  compromise,  took  very  literally  the 
example  of  the  Saviour  as  their  guide,  and  claimed  its 
furtherance  by  his  early  disciples  and  Apostles,  as  their 
countenance  and  support. 

The  Washing  of  Feet  was,  therefore,  adopted  and 
practised  literally,  as  enjoined  by  the  Divine  Master, 
13th  John,  4,  5:  "He  riseth  from  supper,  and  laid  aside 
his  garments,  and  took  a  towel  and  girded  himself;  after 
that,  he  poureth  water  into  a  basin,  and  began  to  wash 
his  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  towel 
wherewith  he  was  girded." 

This  example  of  humility  was  practised  immediately 
before  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  was 
fully  supported,  as  a  proper  observance,  by  the  Evan- 
gelist's record:  "Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord,  and  ye  say 
well,  for  so  I  am.  If  I,  then,  your  Lord  and  Master, 
have  washed  your  feet,  ye  ought  also  to  wash  one  ano- 
ther's feet.  For  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  ye 
should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you." — Verses  13,  14,  15,  of 
the  above  chapter.  All  which  having  been  said  and  done 
by  our  Saviour,  at  the  time  of  his  Supper,  the  Moravian 


1/ 


104  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Cliurcli  adopted  the  same,  as  tlie  proper  time  for  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  example. 

This  was  a  solemn  rite,  and  solemly  performed,  and 
was  a  corresponding  influence  calculated  to  chasten  the 
moral  turpitude  of  the  natural  man,  else,  uprising  to  the 
prejudice  and  waste  of  the  beauty  of  holiness. 

The  custom,  however,  was  limited  to  the  older  brethren 
I  and  sisters,  in  whom  Christian  experience  was  ripe,  and 
to  whom  the  junior  members  looked,  under  the  Gospel, 
for  the  savor  of  life  unto  life. 

It  was  not  regarded  as  a  positive  command,  and  there- 
,    fore,  not  observed  as  a  sacrament,  nor  as  an  institution, 
!    but  as  a  recommendation  of  our  Saviour  to  humility,  and 
moral    and  religious  equality.      Ye  ought  also  to  wash 
one  another's  feet;  "the  servant  is  not  greater  than  his 
Lord,  nor  he  that  is  sent,  greater  than  he  that  sent  him." 
This  elder  class,  having  diminished  by  death  to  some 
five  or  six  members,  and  the  privacy  necessary  to  the 
accomplishment  of  this  purpose  annulled  by  the  destruc- 
tion   of  the  hall  of    the  first  church,  in  1819-20,   the 
observance  became  impracticable,  and  was  discontinued, 
more  of  necessity  than  of  choice ;  but  there  is  now  not 
one  living  member  of  that  humble  few. 


IN    PHILADELPniA.  105 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Holy  Communion — Kiss  of  Peace — Doctrine  oftlie  Sacrament. 

Tins    sacred  ordinance  is  a  fundamental   principle  in    / 
the  Moravian    Church,  as  it    doubtless  is  in  all   other   j 
Christian  Churches ;  but  its  observance  in  the  form  and 
administration  is  thought  to  be  more  impressive  and  more 
interesting. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  entirely  private,  and  no  disturb- 
ance whatever  could  find  its  way  into  the  assemblage. 

Strangers  were  not  admitted,  except  on  application  to 
the  minister,  and  then  only  such  as  were  communicants 
elsewhere,  or  persons  of  known  Christian  bearing. 

Secondly.  The  administration  of  the  elements  is  ac- 
companied by  the  Hymnology  of  the  Church,  especially 
adapted  to  the  solemnity  of  this  service,  so  that  whilst 
the  minister  is  in  the  act  of  distribution,  passing  from 
bench  to  bench,  silently  handing  the  bread  and  the  wine 
to  each  individual,  the  whole  congregation  are  commemo- 
rating the  death  of  Jesus,  in  sacred  harmony ;  following  \J 
the  subdued  tones  of  the  organ,  with  "  melody  in  their 
hearts." 

After  the  distribution  of  the  bread,  and  the  minister  has 
pronounced  the  Saviour's  command,  "Take,  eat,"  &c.,  a 
silent  prayer  (the  congregation  kneeling)  ensues;  whilst 


106  niSTOEY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

the  mellowing  influence  of  the  organ  mingles  its  suasive 
powers  to  w^ing  their  contrite  aspirations  to  the  throne  of 
grace, — a  most  beautiful  and  imposing  observance  in  the 
4  administration. 

After  the  introductory  address  and  prayer,  there  is 
nothing  said  beyond  the  Scripture  warrant  and  command 
for  the  observance.  The  hymning  of  praise,  pra^-er,  and 
supplication  constitute  the  actual  service. 

Preparatory  to  this  service,  it  was  the  practical  duty 
of  the  minister,  either  to  visit  his  communicant  mem- 
bers, for  the  purpose  of  a  particular  knowledge  of 
their  spiritual  state,  or  to  have  a  special  meeting  in  the 
church,  for  "  instruction  in  righteousness,"  by  advice, 
solicitude,  or  consolation  ;  and  this  was  a  happy  medium 
to  the  altar,  of  special  communication  with  the  Redeemer's 
sacrifice,  and  was  not  without  effect,  to  enlighten  the 
mind  and  w^arm  the  heart  to  the  things  that  belonged 
to  their  peace.  This  custom  was  a  species  of  confession, 
though  not  by  any  means  in  the  full  sense  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

It  was  as  well  a  custom  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
there  called  "  beught,"  which  means  confession,  but  by  the 
Moravians  "sprechen,"  or  speaking,  and  was  a  medium 
of  discharging  the  mind  of  unhallowed  influences,  and 
the  opportunity  to  "  confess  your  faults,  one  to  another," 
and  to  "pray  one  for  another."  It  gave  the  communi- 
cant an  opportunity  of  improvement,  by  a  special  spiritual 
intercourse  with  his  pastor,  for  there  w^as  a  fair  exchange 
of  sentiment,  and  the  confessor  was  not  the  silent  reci- 
pient of  the  secrets  of  his  subject,  but  the  companion  in" 
arms,  assisting  his  weak  brother  in  "the  good  fight  of 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  107 

fiiith,"  that  his  "man  of  God  might  be  perfect,"  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  all  good  works. 

The  increase  of  members,  in  all  probability,  encum- 
bered the  pastor  above  his  ability,  and  the  custom  was 
compromised  of  necessity,  and  concentrated  into  a  "  pre- 
paratory meeting,"  held  on  the  Sunday  afternoon  next 
before  the  celebration,  when  singing,  prayer,  and  address, 
all  touching  the  religious  bearing  of  communicants  espe- 
cially, were  solemnly  enacted ;  and  the  warning,  the  ad- 
monition, and  the  encouraging  exordium  passed  from 
pious  lips  to  hearts  and  minds  open  to  conviction,  and 
ready  to  be  "  established  in  the  faith."     (Acts,  16 :  5.) 

THE   KISS    OF   PEACE. 

The  late  venerable  Bishop  Spangenberg,  an  early 
father  of  our  Church,  writes,  on  this  subject,  thus: 

"Paul  writes  to  the  Romans,  16  :  16,  '  Salute  one  ano- 
ther with  a  holy  kiss,'  and  refers  further  to  1  Corinth. 
16  :  20,  2  Corinth.  13  :  12 ;  1  Thess.  26,  and  Peter  1 :  14, 
'Greet  ye  one  another  with  the  kiss  of  charity ;' "  and 
proceeds,  "  This  act  must  certainly  have  been  of  impor- 
tance to  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  as  it  is  repeated  by  them 
more  than  once. 

"Not  amongst  the  Jews  only,  but  amongst  other 
nations  also,  it  was  customary  for  one  man  to  testify  the 
love  and  regard  he  had  for  another  by  a  kiss. 

"  Our  Saviour,  therefore,  reminds  the  Pharisee,  who 
liad  invited  him,  that  he  had  not  received  him  with  a 
kiss. 

"  Of  consequence,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  have 
received  a  kiss  from  a  Pharisee. 


108  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

"  But  it  is  probable,  in  the  Apostolical  Churches,  be- 
sides the  kiss  used  in  common  life,  with  which  one  man 
received  or  dismissed  the  other,  this  kiss  was  made  use 
of  in  their  meetings." — See  Exposition  of  Christian  Doc- 
trine of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  by  A.  G.  Spangenberg,  p. 
251. 

This  ancient  custom  of  the  Christian  Church  was  con- 
tinued in  the  Moravian  Church,  and  constituted  an  affec- 
tionate and  interesting  feature  in  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  America  until  very  recently,  where  it 
has  been  discontinued  in  most  of  the  congregations ;  a 
good  reason  for  which,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  ! 

It  was  a  mutual  salutation  of  the  congregation,  the 
very  best  evidence  of  good  fellowship  ;  and  an  earnest  of 
the  Apostle's  injunction,  to  be  "Kindly  affectioued  to 
one  another." 

The  brethren  and  sisters  being  separated  in  their  sit- 
tings, it  was  free  from  any  danger  whatever  of  abuse ; 
and  this  separation  was  not  confined  to  this  portion  of 
the  Christian  Church,  seeing  that  the  deacon  of  ancient 
times,  after  certain  preliminary  ceremonies,  "  cried  out 
aloud.  Mutually  embrace  and  kiss  each  other." — See 
Eucharist,  in  Buck's  Theological  Dictionary. 

It  is  certainly  lamentable,  that  the  spirit  of  the  age 
should  be  encouraged  to  bring  into  subjection  the 
patience,  the  purity,  and  the  Christian  simplicity  of  the 
saints  of  the  early  age. 

They  were  not  ashamed  of  this  evidence  of  love  to 
each  other,  nor  did  they  fear  or  regard  derision  from  a 
benighted  observer. 

Like  David,  they  washed  their  hands  in  innocency,  and 
embraced  each  other  in  purity. 


IN    PniLADELPUIA.  109 

"  Say,  my  peace  I  leave  ■with  you; 
Amen,  Amen,  be  it  so," 

was  the  melody  of  tlieir  hearts,  after  rising  from  prayer, 
and  as  they  offered  the  salutation,  at  the  conclusion,  was 

"  Once  more  we  pledge  both  heart  and  hand, 
As  in  God's  presence  here  we  stand," — 

the  pledge  of  friendship  and  Christian  fellowship,  in  the  i 
kindly  "kiss  of  peace." 

Personal  objections  have  been  urged  as  available  reason 
for  the  disuse  of  the  custom;  but  is  this  not  a  sad  confes- 
sion of  refinement  against  Christian  simplicity  ?  There 
never  was  any  evil  in  it,  but  a  decided  medium  of  good ; 
and  yet  the  Unitas  Fratrii,  if  not  the  only  church,  certainly 
one  of  the  few  that  adopted  and  continued  it  as  good  for 
more  than  a  century,  now  abandon  it,  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  as  inconvenient,  and  to  the  world 
unseemly. 

To  our  sister  churches,  who  never  saw  it  in  our  light, 
we  have  nothing  to  object ;  but  in  those  who  saw  it  for 
good,  adopted  it  as  a  silken  cord  to  Christian  unity, 
drank  from  the  golden  bowl  of  its  fructifying  laver,  and 
refreshed  themselves  in  the  odor  of  its  purity,  wonder 
must  ever  exist,  and  regret  swell  the  bosom  of  the  most 
casual  observer,  at  the  discontinuance  of  so  interesting  a 
distinctive  feature  of  a  Christian  church. 

THE   DOCTRINES   OP   THE    SACRAMENT. 

The  materials  used  in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  are,  as  instituted  by  our  Saviour,  "  bread  and 
wine  ;" — wafer,  or  unleavened  bread,  made  expressly  for 
the  occasion,  but  not  common  bread. 


110  nisTORY  or  the  Moravian  church 

Tlie  various  differences  amongst  Christians,  as  to  the 
specific  substance  of  the  Eucharist,  appears  not  to  be 
mooted,  but  rather  compromised  in  the  Moravian  Church; 
for,  whilst  transubstantiation  appears  too  positive  and 
dogmatical,  consubstantiation  seemed  too  indefinite,  and 
quite  as  hard  to  be  understood. 

The  Church,  therefore,  had  no  dogma  on  this  doctrine  ; 
but,  taking  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  the  participant 
receives  it  according  to  his  faith,  to  whicK  a  more  than 
ordinary  blessing  attaches,  in  proportion  to  the  spiritual 
subduing  of  the  natural  man. 

To  say  that  it  is  the  real  presence,  other  than  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  is,  perhaps,  assuming  too  much  ;  whilst 
to  say  that  it  is  not,  necessarily  enlists,  and  always  arrays 
human  wisdom  against  Almighty  power,  and  doubtful 
disputations  ensue. 

The  Church,  taking  the  Scriptures  exclusively  as  its 
guide,  without  reference  to  compilations  from  various, 
and  perhaps  biassed  construction,  has  ever  conformed  as 
near  to  their  literal  import  as  possible ;  and  hence,  to 
avoid  error  in  its  fundamental  principles,  did  not  ado]3t 
anything  as  a  dogma  that  was  calculated  to  cause  con- 
troversy. Hence,  no  question  was  elicited  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  character  or  nature  of  the  elements  in  the 
Communion,  after  the  consecration  at  the  altar. 

Faithfulness  in  the  ministerial  act,  and  faith  in  the 
recipients,  leave  it  an  open  question,  that  "  every  man 
may  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind." 

The  ordinance  is  certainly  not  of  common  origin,  and 
cannot  be  viewed  as  an  ordinary  or  periodical  celebration. 
It  was  instituted  by  Christ  himself,  and  that,  too,  in  his 
human  nature;  but  it  was  under  the  influence  of  a  perfect 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  Ill 

man,  whose  blessing,  hallowed  in  an  especial  manner  by 
the  Father,  imparted  more  of  a  Divine  essence  than  ordi- 
nary human  nature  could  give. 

There  was,  therefore,  no  possibility  of  the  shadow  of  a 
thought  incompatible  with  the  purity  of  the  aspirations ; 
and  hence,  we  have  every  reason  to  confide  in  a  correspond- 
ing return  from  the  Source  of  life  and  light. 

Divinity,  therefore,  shed  its  power  over  that  repast, 
and  this  influence  can  have  lost  nothing  in  the  lapse  of 
time ;  so  that,  as  before  observed,  a  more  than  ordinary 
degree  of  spiritual  enjoyment  precedes  the  commemora 
tion  of  Christ's  suflerings  and  death,  by  a  proper  prepa- 
ration, and  follows  it  by  a  faithful  observance ;  and 
whether  it  be  Transubstantiation  or  Consubstantiation, 
it  is  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
under  the  scriptural  direction  ;  or,  as  the  Princess  Eliza- 
beth of  England  answered,  when  pressed  for  a  confession 
of  her  faith  : 

"  Christ  was  the  word  that  spake  it. 
He  took  the  bread  and  brake  it, 
And  what  that  word  did  make  it, 
That  I  believe,  and  take  it." 

Nor  is  this  answer  as  evasive,  as  at  first  sight  might 
appear. 

"  And  what  that  word  did  make  it/' 

is  fraught  with  depth  of  thought  and  meaning.  It  was  a 
Divine  word,  and  though  passingshuman  lips,  it  bedewed 
the  atmosphere  of  the  scene  with  an  unction,  especially 
sanctifying 

"  The  word  that  spake  it." 

In  reference  to  the  influence  of  the  commemoration. 


112  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

upon  tlie  spiritual  sensibilities  of  tlie  participant,  tlie 
yencrable  John  Aitken,  a  pious  and  exemplary  member 
of  Christ  Church,  who  walked  ten  miles  every  first  Sun- 
day in  the  month,  for  this  renewal  of  his  inner  man,  used 
to  say,  that  it  built  him  up  in  his  spiritual  might,  two 
weeks  before,  and  two  weeks  after  the  celebration  ;  "  so 
that,"  said  he,  "  I  am  built  up  all  the  time." 

The  subject  is,  at  best,  one  of  interminable  difficulty, 
wherever  and  whenever  human  wisdom  attempts  a  con- 
troversy ;  the  Unitas  Fratrii,  therefore,  avoiding  the 
shoals  of  disputations,  making  no  dogma,  receive  the 
elements  of  the  Holy  Communion  in  simplicity  and 
faith,  asking  no  questions. 

In  the  administration  of  this  sacrament,  the  minister 
wears  a  surplice,  as,  also,  at  the  rite  of  Baptism  and 
Confirmation ;  in  the  latter,  however,  not  obligatory. 


IN   PniLADELPHlA.  113 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Liturgy — Liturgies  and  Litanies  of  the  Church. 

This  is  a  regular  formula  of  a  religious  service,  and 
comprises   a  compilation  of  hymns   and   sentences,  for 
various  special  occasions  ;  to  wit,  a  special  liturgy  : 
To  the  Father, 
To  the  Son, 
To  the  Holy  Ghost, 
To  the  Trinity, 

To  the  passion  of  our  Lord,  &c. 
In    each,   the    sentiment   of   the    hymns   is   specially   7 
adapted  to  the  subject  or  object  in  view. 

It  is  the  melody  of  the  heart,  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  / 
and  spiritual  songs. 

The  melody,  however,  is  various ;  changing  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty  tunes,  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 

Each  liturgy  constituted  an  evening  service  ;  and  was 
sung  in  alternate  strains  by  the  minister  or  liturgus,  the 
choir,  Ch ;  the  sisters,  S ;  and  the  congregation,  C ;  of 
which  the  following  is  a  specimen  : 

L.  "  Christ,  our  Saviour,  look  on  thee, 

Ransomed  congregation. 
Ch.    Thou  art  his,  because  that  he, 

Purchased  thy  salvation." 


114  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAX   CHURCH 

C.  "  We  are  his,  through  mercy.     To  him,  our  Saviour, 
AVe'll  humbly  cleave,  till  we  shall  see  him  ever. 

Hallelujah  !" 

L.  and  Ch.  "  To  him  be  glory  at  all  times  ;  in  the  church  which 

waiteth  for  hira,  and  in  that  which  is  about  him. 
All.  From  everlasting  to  everlasting.     Amen." 

L.  and  Ch.  "Now  let  all  say.  Amen.     The  Lord  be  praised 
In  heaven  and  earth,  his  name  forever  blessed 

By  all  that  breathe." 

A.  "  Oh,  did  each  pulse  thanksgiving  beat, 

S.      And  every  breath  his  praise  repeat. 

A.      Amen.     Hallelujah ! 

Ch.    Hallelujah! 

A.      Amen.     Hallelujah  !" 

L.  and  Ch.  "  Holy,  holy,  holy.     In  earth  and  heaven, 

To  God,  and  to  the  Lamb,  be  praises  given, 

In  harmony."' 

Tliis  mode  of  worship  is  not  only  interesting,  but  de- 
liglitful ;  and  whilst  I  am  writing,  I  am,  in  heart  and 
voice,  remodelling  my  early  sensations ;  and,  most  hap- 
pily, floating  on  the  choral  sea  of  the  harmonious  swell  of 
a  place  or  a  country  congregation. 

Yes,  the  Eeligious  and  ISIoral  Athenreum  of  N'azareth, 
may  even  yet  whisper  an  echo,  from  its  venerable  walls, 
of  praise,  of  prayer,  and  of  supplication  to  the  hoary 
head  of  an  early  pilgrim,  who  once,  in  the  freshness  of 
his  vocal  powers,  impressed  them  with  the  fervor  of  his 
youthful  spiritual  zeal. 

To  strangers,  however,  this  mode  of  worship  was 
rather  enigmatical,  and  when  practised  here,  by  some  was 
hard  to  be  understood.     Such  an  one  once  happened  in 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  115 

during  one  of  these  services,  but  thougli  very  fond  of 
music,  could  take  no  part  in  this.  lie,  however,  abode 
his  time  ;  but,  when  the  service  was  over,  he  stepped 
to  a  member  and  said,  "  That  is  a  curious  service ;  they 
are  no  sooner  in  a  tune,  than  they  are  again  out,  and  into 
another."  "My  dear  friend,"  continued  he,  "that  thing 
must  be  learned !" 

In  the  Preface  of  the  copy  before  me,  issued  in  Lon- 
don, in  1793,  the  writer  says,  "  This  new  edition  of 
Liturgic  Hymns,  for  the  United  Brethren's  Congrega- 
tion, containing  Litanies  and  solemn  Anthems,  with 
some  pieces  belonging  to  the  Ritual,  has  been  occasioned 
partly  by  the  necessity  of  a  new  revision  of  those  Li- 
turgic Hymns,  which  have  been  in  use  since  1770,  and 
partly  by  repeated  applications  to  have  them  enlarged." 
So  that  1770  would  appear  as  the  date  of  its  origin. 

How  long  they  were  in  use  in  the  city  congregations, 
there  are  no  means  of  ascertaining,  but  I  am  happy  to 
know  that  in  the  place  congregations,  they  yet  form  a 
welded  and  harmonious  link  in  the  chain  of  Mora- 
■vianism. 

The  unbroken  service  requires  practical  skill  in  the 
organist,  to  pass  from  one  melody  to  another,  without 
change  of  key,  seeing  that  a  succession  of  modulations 
would  mar  the  service  by  efforts  uninterestingly  tame,  or 
distressingly  severe,  besides  the  unnecessary  consump- 
tion of  time.  He  must,  therefore,  be  able  to  pass  on, 
connecting  the  harmony  by  a  bejfitting  interlude,  or,  if  by 
a  curt  appeal  to  science,  he  can  slip  into  the  required 
change,  he  may  do  so ;  but,  to  the  credit  of  the  Moravian 
organists  in  general,  it  must  be  said,  that  they  are  equal 
to  any  emergency  of  their  service. 


116  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

THE   LITANIES. 

The  Liturgies,  being  for  tlie  most  part  ascriptive  of 
praise  to  tlie  attributes  of  the  Deity,  were  rendered  into 
rhythmic  harmony,  whilst  the  Litanies  were  supplicatory, 
and  rendered  in  paragraphic  sentences,  principally  quo- 
tations from  the  Scriptures,  interspersed  with  a  small 
portion  of  singing. 

Of  these,  there  are  also  several,  viz. : 

The  Church  Litany,  originally  forming  an  early  sepa- 
rate Sunday  Morning  Service;  but,  in  after  time  and 
now  constitutes  a  2^(^'^i  of  the  regular  Sunday  Mox'ning 
Service. 

The  Easter  Morning  Litany,  constituting  and  com- 
prising the  Creed  of  the  Church,  is  prayed  regularly,  and 
I  am  happy  to  believe  faithfully,  on  Easter  Morning,  at 
5  o'clock,  after  the  reading  of  the  history  of  the  Resur- 
rection. This  Litany  is  particularly  rich  in  composition, 
thoroughly  scriptural,  and  deeply  imposing,  and  cannot 
fail  to  carry  the  mind  with  it,  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end.  It  and  the  Church  Litany  were  original  drafts  of 
Zinzendorff,  but  remodelled  by  the  Synod  of  Herrnhuth, 
and  adopted  by  the  Church. 

Litanies  at  Baptisms,  of  which  there  are  several, 
to  wit : 

For  Children. 

For  Adults,  and 

For  Adults  from  the  Heathen. 

In  the  two  last,  the  candidate  makes  confession  of  his 
Faith. 

Litanies  at  Burials,  of  which  there  were,  and  are  yet, 
two,  differing  in  form  and  length,  solemnly  beautified. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  117 

by  tlie  introduction  of  several  verses,  to  be  sung  by  the 
attendants  at  the  grave,  ascending  as  the  incense  of 
homage  to  "the  Lord,  who  gave,"  and  to  the  same 
"Lord,  who  hath  taken  away." 

The  foregoing  forms  a  part  of  the  Ritual  of  the  Church, 
in  addition,  however,  there  are  formulas  for 
Confirmation, 
Ordination,  and 
Doxologies. 
The  one  doxology,  a  verse  of  ascription  of  praise  to 
the  Trinity  at  the  close  of  any  service. 

The  other,  a  specific  ascription  to  the  meritorious 
offerings  of  the  Redeemer,  in  which  the  congregation 
take  an  alternate  part,  thus: 

Minister. — Unto  the  Lamb  that  was  slain, 

Cong. — And  hath  redeemed  us  out  of  all  nations  of  the  earth, 
&c.  &c. 


118  HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


The  Lot. 


The  Moravians  were  from  tlie  beginning  a  people  of 
strong  faitli.  The}^  were  Bible  Christians  to  the  letter, 
and  scrutinously  practical  in  their  profession. 

Our  Saviour  had  said  to  his  disciples,  Luke  17  :  6,  "  If 
ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  might  say 
unto  this  sycamore  tree,  Be  thou  plucked  up  by  the  root, 
and  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,  and  it  should  obey  you." 

This  figure  of  speech,  although  very  strong,  was  illus- 
trative of  the  power  of  Faith. 

"  Elias  prayed  that  it  might  not  rain,  and  it  did  not 
rain;  and  again  he  prayed  that  it  might  rain,  and  it  did 
rain."     (James  5  :  17,  18.) 

And  the  11th  chapter  of  Hebrews  is  a  compendium  of 
the  wonderful  workings  of  Faith.  In  a  word,  "Faith 
being  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen"  (Hebrews  11  :  1),  "the  Brethren 
sought  a  more  direct  medium  of  its  exercise  in  an  appeal 
to  the  Lot." 

It  was  a  custom  of  ancient  date,  from  Leviticus  to  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  M-as  appealed  to  as  well  for 
secular  settlements,  as  for  ecclesiastical  consultation. 

In  the  early  stage  of  the  Moravian  Church,  it  was  the 
umpire  of  all  important  questions,  moral  or  religious. 

Missions  were  established  and  ministers  appointed 
under  its  directions,  whilst  matrimonial  arrangements 
were  decided  by  the  yea  or  nay  of  the  Lot. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  119 

It  was  a  matter  requiring  strong  Faith ;  yet  Faith  was 
there,  and  its  results  were  satisfactory. 

But  it  pleases  God  sometimes  to  try  our  Faith  even  by 
a  contrary  working  of  the  answer  given  :  this  was  but 
"pruning  the  tree,  that  it  might  bring  forth  more  fruit," 
and  so  acknowledged  by  the  faithful  in  the  trial. 

In  all  cases,  the  manifestations  of  truth  followed  the 
disappointment  with  spiritual  light.  And  if  the  thing 
desired  was  negatived,  or  being  granted,  was  not  suc- 
cessful, it  was  but  to  make  way  for  a  better,  as  well  as  a 
perfecting  of  patience  ;  or,  in  the  language  of  the  poet, 

"  Good  when  he  gives,  supremely  good, 
Nor  less  when  he  denies. 
Even  crosses  from  his  sovereign  hand, 
Are  blessings  in  disguise/' 

It  was,  and  it  ever  will  be,  an  answer  to  prayer, 
wherever  it  be  the  prayer  of  faith. 

It  was  the  strong  arm  of  the  Church,  and  threw  its 
mantle  over  the  earth ;  it  ploughed  the  fallow  ground  of 
the  Korth,  and  nourished  the  darksome  regions  of  the 
South. 

Without  "  purse  or  scrip,"  the  missionaries  went  forth, 
in  obedience  to  its  mandate,  and  very  many  of  "the 
people  who  had  sat  in  darkness,  saw  a  great  light." 

The  following  table  of  missionary  stations  of  this 
Church,  lately  published  in  "The  Moravian,"  a  very  ably 
edited  organ  of  the  Church,  gives  an  elaborate  view  of 
the  fruits  of  the  faith  reposed  in  the  Lot,  by  which, 
knowing  it  to  be  the  command  of,  or  sanctioned  by,  the 
Most  High,  its  appellees  went  forth  to  the  work  with 
"full  purpose  of  heart,"  and  were  "blessed  in  their 
deed,"  to  which  the  following  statistics  are  in  point. 


120 


HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN  CHURCH 


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IN   PHILADELPHIA. 


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124  niSTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

But  the  Lot  was  the  source  also  of  more  domestic  ap- 
peals. 

Matrimonial  projects  were  confirmed  or  negatived  by 
its  decision. 

If  a  brother  wanted  a  wife,  he  made  his  want  known  to 
his  minister  or  the  Conference,  by  whom — naming  an  help- 
mate— the  question  was  Bubmitted  to  God  in  the  Lot ;  if 
the  answer  was  yea,  it  was  well ;  if  nay,  another  was  pro- 
posed. But  even  before  this,  Abraham  did  no  less, 
having  obtained  a  wife  for  his  son  by  submitting  the 
whole  matter  to  the  Lord,  as,  in  Genesis  24 :  14,  his 
servant  prayeth,  "And  let  it  come  to  pass  that  the 
damsel,  to  whom  I  shall  say,  Let  down  thy  pitcher,  I  pray 
thee,  that  I  may  drink,  and  she  shall  say,  Drink,  and  I 
will  give  thy  camels  drink  also,  let  the  same  be  she  that 
thou  hast  appointed  for  thy  servant  Isaac." 

It  has  often  happened  that  the  parties  had  never  seen 
each  other,  but  were  only  known  by  reputation. 

America  has  thus  joined  Germany,  and  Germany  has 
been  linked  to  the  "West  Indies,  whilst  England  and 
Greenland  have  kissed  each  other  by  proxical  contract. 

Faith  sanctified  the  union ;  for  it  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
that,  however  strange  this  mode  of  the  connubial  tie 
may  appear  to  the  world,  it  is  no  less  true,  that  when 
enacted  in  the  spirit  of  truthful  faith,  an  unhappy  union 
was  an  anomaly. 

Marriage  was  not  a  carnal  fancy :  what  God  hath  put 
together,  was  their  motto,  and  to  Him  they  appealed  for 
the  union  ;  neither  was  it  a  distinction  by  birth,  blood,  or 
education ;  but  the  Lord  God  said,  "  It  is  not  good  that 
the  man  should  be  alone :  I  will  make  him  an  help  meet 
for  him;"  the  man  therefore  sought  an  help  meet,  for  his 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  125 

requirements,  through  the  oracle,  at  the  time  appointed  by 
the  Church.  Neither  was  tlie  glitter  of  wealth  the  beacon 
of  a  matrimonial  harbor;  the  mind's  eye,  lit  by  purity  of 
thought,  rested  on  faith,  for  an  answer  by  the  Lot,  and 
happy  were  the  results. 

"Be  ye  clean,  that  bear  the  vessels  of  the  Lord." 
(Isaiah,  52  :  11.) 

The  Lot  was  a  vessel  of  the  Lord,  and  always  committed 
to  holy  hands. 

Its  burden  was  a  Bubject  of  devout  prayer,  under  the 
especial  promise  of  our  Saviour,  that  where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them.  (Matthew,  18  :  20.) 

Being  administered  by  three  senior  clergy,  it  could  not 
err,  so  long  as  theirs  was  the  "prayer  of  faith  ;"  for  the 
promises  of  God  are  yea  and  amen,  and  "  the  testimony  of 
the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple."  (Psalm  19  :  7.) 

They,  therefore,  laying  aside  all  self  or  selfish  motives, 
'  appealed   to  that  fountain  of  wisdom,  that   only  could 
beautify  their  simplicity,  and  it  did  so. 

It,  however,  never  was  intended  as  an  ordinary  mantle 
for  the  covering  of  responsibility,  nor  were  common-sense 
matters  exonerated  by  its  use,  but  in  all  important  matters 
where  sound  judgment  was  at  fault. 

The  Lot  was  the  vessel  that  bore  them  to  and  from  the 
Throne  of  Grace,  directed  in  their  course  by  the  sure 
mercies  of  David. 

"Incline  your  ear,  and  come  unto  me;  hear  and  your 
Boul  shall  live,  and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David."  (Isaiah,  55  :  3.) 
Thus,  based  upon  Holy  Writ,  the  Lot  was  an  unerr- 
ing guide,  and  proof  upon  proof  of  its  perfect  issues  exist 


126  HISTOEY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

even  now  tlirougliout  the  world ;  but  it  was  their  3Ioses, 
"on  the  top  of  the  hill,"  so  long  as  "Aaron  and  Hur" 
held  up  his  hands,  the  Israelites  prevailed.  (See  Exodus, 
17  :  12.)  And  so  long  as  the  Church  supported  this  stan- 
dard, it  never  failed. 

But  alas,  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  has  long  been  con- 
troverting the  utility  of  the  privilege,  has  fought  it  to  the 
hilt,  and  is  even  now  treading  upon  its  shades,  as  they 
yield  to  the  wisdom  or  the  wanderings  of  refined  Chris- 
tianity. And  why  this  ?  If  it  was  good  and  true  then, 
what  has  reduced  its  value  now  ?  The  exercise  of  faith 
is  no  less  important  now  than  it  was  then,  nor  has  our 
need  of  askino;  in  au2:ht  diminished. 

The  refinement  of  the  age  has  certainly  not  refined 
Christianity  to  such  perfection  as  to  need  no  guide  ;  nor 
has  the  wisdom  of  man  yet  reached  the  heavens,  to  coun- 
sel the  angels. 

Childlike  simplicity  is  no  less  a  saving  virtue  now,  than 
when  our  Saviour  said,  "  Except  ye  be  converted,  and 
become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  (Matt.  18  :  3.)  But  humility  seems  to 
be  weighed  in  the  balance,  "and  is  found  wanting." 

Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever, 
the  same  source  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift,  to  be 
approached  in  the  same  manner,  by  faith,  humility,  and 
childlike  simplicity;  and  yet,  the  Church  that  once  enjoyed 
the  full  privilege  of  especial  assurance  of  safeguard, 
guided  to  extensive  growth,  prospered  for  its  simplicity, 
and  was  "  blessed  in  its  deed,"  has  been  compromising 
its  spiritual  might  for  an  ad  libitum  chance  of  its  own 
judgment. 

It  w^as  obligatory  on  members  of  the  Church  to  marry 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  127 

by  tlie  Lot ;  and  if  they  would  not,  they  were  excluded, 
and  in  the  place  congregations  were  compelled  to  leave. 

This  requirement  was  annulled  some  forty  years  ago, 
and  the  rule  applied  to  ministers  only;  and  this  now  is 
compromised  for  the  taste,  the  fancy,  or  the  judgment  even 
of  the  minister. 

Congregations,  seeing  this  dereliction  of  the  fathers, 
claim  the  right  of  choice  of  a  pastor ;  and  the  Lot  to 
them  is  of  none  effect.  And  now,  extreme  necessity 
only  reserves  the  use  of  the  Lot  for  its  direction.  What 
that  extreme  may  dwindle  to,  ten  more  years  will  show  ; 
for  the  children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation 
than  the  children  of  light. 

This  tie  of  perfection  is  certainly  passing  rapidly  into 
nonenity;  and  the  simple  abiding  faith  of  the  early  fathers 
is  merging  into  the  shamefacedness  of  worldly  considera- 
tions. I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Church  is  less  sound 
in  doctrines,  principles,  or  faith,  but  she  certainly  has 
yielded  this  leading  point — so  faithful  in  all  its  acts — to 
specious  arguments  of  doubtful  issues,  and  is  taking  an 
unnecessary  round.  "  The  fervent  effectual  prayer  of  a 
righteous  man  availeth  much."  And  the  Lot  ivas  a  faith-" 
ful  messenger,  if  faithfully  used,  to  and  from  the  heavenly 
court  of  ajipeal. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  cast  undeserved  odium  upon  my 
spiritual  mother;  or  to  soil  her  escutcheons  with  "untem- 
percd  mortar,"  nay,  rather  would  I  be  a  Ham,  or  a  Ja- 
pheth,  with  my  back  to  her  foibles,  and  drop  a  veil  of 
oblivion  over  the  startling  evidences  of  her  dereliction. 

But  history  has  claims  to  all  of  the  past,  and  justice  to 
the  manes  of  our  fathers  belongs  to  the  future.  St.  Paul 
says,  3  Philippians,  16,  17,  "E'evertheless,  whereto   we 


128  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

have  already  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let  us 
mind  the  same  thing."  "Brethren,  be  followers  together 
of  me,  and  mark  them  which  walk,  as  ye  have  us  for 
examples." 

Seeing,  then,  that  the  present  regime  has  swallowed 
down  and  is  hiding  the  example  of  our  fathers;  dimming, 
if  not  extinguishing,  a  light  that  not  only  shone  far  and 
wide,  but  emitted  from  its  rays  a  warm  and  fructifying 
influence ;  the  bemoaning  of  Job  (29th  chapter)  seems 
like  a  spontaneous  flow  of  lamentation,  at  the  lessor  com- 
promise of  the  blessings  of  our  youth.  "  Oh  that  I  were 
as  in  months  past,  as  in  the  days  when  God  preserved  me !" 
"  When  his  candle  shined  upon  my  head,  and  when,  by 
his  light,  I  walked  through  darkness."  "  As  I  was  in  the 
da3'S  of  my  youth,  when  the  secret  of  God  was  upon  my 
tabernacle." 

It  is  much  to  be  feared,  that  such  will  be  the  bemoan- 
ings  of  ours,  or  any  other  Church,  that  sinks  its  primitive, 
faith-abiding  simplicity  in  the  uncertain  experiments  of 
progression,  compromising  quality  for  quantity. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  "129 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Feasts  and  Fasts. 


The  Churcli  had  its  feasts  and  its  fasts,  and  they  were 
duly  observed. 

Christmas,  Easter,  Epiphany,  Ascension  Day,  Whit- 
suntide, and  the  several  Memorial  Days  of  the  Church, 
were  ecclesiological  feast  days ;  and  Ash  Wednesday  to 
Easter  Sunday,  were  included  as,  commonly  called,  fast 
days,  or  a  chastened  mode  of  life,  for  and  during  the 
forty  days  of  Lent. 

The  feast  of  Shrove  Tuesday,  and  the  very  savory  odor 
of  its  pancakes  and  doughnuts,  was  but  too  suddenly 
merged  in  the  restrictive  requirement  of  Ash  Wednesday, 
which,  as  well  as  Good  Friday,  in  the  immediate  atmo- 
sphere of  my  appetital  privileges,  was  redolent  of  fish  ; 
to  my  palate,  a  most  unsavory  service,  and  a  very  chas- 
tening to  my  youthful  cravings. 

These  days  were  generally  marked  more  literally  as 
fasts,  than  the  others  of  the  Lent  season  ;  though  tempe- 
rance in  all  things,  and  at  all  times,  was  a  respected  and 
observed  motto  of  the  Moravians. 

THE    CHRISTMAS   FESTIVAL. 

The  celebration  of  the  Birth  of  Christ  is,  and  ever 
has  been,  a  high  and  holy  time  in  the  Church,  and  com- 

9 


130  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

mences  its  religious  services  on  the  evening  before  Clirist- 
mas  Day. 

These  Cliristmas  Eve  services  are  at  once  imposing 
and  inspiring,  as  well  from  the  fact  itself,  as  from  the 
portrait  of  the  scene  of  his  birth,  and  its  attendant  cir- 
cumstances, as  set  forth  in  the  history  of  that  great  event ; 
rendered  even  more  impressive  by  the  occasional  intro- 
duction of  anthems  of  praise,  and  other  devotional 
melody,  opening  to  the  spiritual  eye  the  Bethlehem 
Manger ;  and,  like  the  shepherds  by  the  star,  leading  the 
congregation  to  the  joyful  reality  of  the  Nativity  of  the 
promised  Redeemer ;  offering  the  incense  of  adorative 
salutation  in  melodious  strains  of 

"  Welcome,  thou  source  of  every  good, 
0  Jesus,  King  of  Glory. 
Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  Lamb  of  God, 
To  this  world  transitory. 

"  In  grateful  hymns  thy  name  we'll  praise, 
With  heart  and  voice  throughout  our  days, 
For  thy  blest  incarnatijn, 
Procured  our  salvation."' 

And  lighting  up  the  vista  to  the  radii,  from  the  infant 
brow  of  the  new-born  King ;  whilst 

"  Arise  my  spirit !     Bless  the  day, 

Whereon  the  age's  Sire 
A  child  became  ;  thy  homage  pay, 

Receive  him  with  desire. 
This  is  the  night  in  which  he  came, 
Was  born,  and  put  on  human  frame, 
Us  sinners  to  deliver, 
From  sin  and  death  forever," 

was  a  very  appropriate  exordium,  from  the  hearts  of  the 


IN    PIIILADELnilA.  131 

congregation,  as  they  rendered  "  the  calves  of  their  lips," 
and  pledged  their  hrotherly  ati'ection  in  the  participation 
of  the  religious  enjoyment  of  the  proffered  and  passing 
love-feast. 

CHRISTMAS    DAY. 

The  order  of  services  on  this  day  was  the  usual  and  re- 
gular Sunday  worship,  saving  the  special  application  of 
the  history  of  the  l!^ativity  of  our  Saviour. 

SECOND    CHRISTMAS    DAY. 

The  day  after  Christmas  was  so  called,  and  so  appro- 
priated. 

There  was  Divine  service  and  a  sermon  in  the  morning; 
and  in  the  afternoon  the  children  had  their  annual  love- 
feast  ;  said  their  verses,  answered  questions,  and  listened 
attentively  to  the  admonitory  exordium  of  their  venerable 
pastor. 

This  service  ^vas  indelible  in  impression  on  the  youth- 
ful mind ;  and  any  that  ever  were  participants  of  its  offer- 
ings, temporal  and  spiritual,  must  ever  remember  the 
joyful  gathering,  and  the  sunny  smiles  of  a  Second 
Christmas  Day  in  the  Moravian  Church. 

The  congregation  being  small,  the  children  were  few. 
Twelve  years  and  under,  was  the  compass  of  the  privi- 
lege of  this  enjoyment.  Two  benches  on  either  side,  in 
front  of  the  minister's  table,  the  girls  to  the  right,  and 
the  boys  to  the  left,  contained  the  gathering;  whilst 
mothers  and  nurses,  supporting  the  gazing  and  wonder- 
ing infant,  reaching,  or  perhaps  fretting  for  the  passing 
cake,  were  seated  on  the  wall  benches,  in  front  of  the 


132  niSTORT   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

youth,  who  were  restive  for  the  knidly  evidence  of  the 
love  of  their  spiritual  fathers,  casting  a  wistful  eye  to  the 
entrance  from  the  parsonage,  even  until  the  click  of  the 
latch  betokened  the  approaching  bounty. 

Two  male  and  two  female  chapel  servants,  bearing 
trays  of  half-pint  cups,  evaporating  savory  fumes  of 
chocolate,  and  two  baskets,  redolent  of  the  odor  of  light 
cake,  were  soon  relieved  of  their  burden  as  they  kissed 
the  lips  that  greeted  their  issues,  whilst  unplied  hands 
awaited  the  return  of  the  palatable  suj)p]y  of  their  share. 
This  course  was  followed  by  a  gingerbread  horse,  or 
infant-shaped,  to  each  child,  and  with  it  a  book,  of  some 
eight  or  ten  pages,  with  mottled  pasteboard  cover,  not  a 
cheap  book,  but  of  duodecimo  size,  containing  hymns 
touching  the  !N^ativity,  and  after  this  a  printed  half  sheet, 
with  a  special  hymn  or  ode,  to  be  said,  or  sung,  on  the 
next  ensuing  Christmas.  The  book  was  unpictured,  but 
so  neatly  bound  as  to  render  it  worthy  of  their  particular 
care,  and  it  was  always  produced,  and  said  at  the  call  of 
the  minister,  on  that  day. 


THE    PASSION   WEEK. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  our  Holy  Eeligion  is, 
"  Christ  and  Him  Crucified,"  the  Rock  of  our  Salvation, 
and  the  Polar  Star  of  all  our  hopes. 

Everything  connected  with  this  important  event,  im- 
portant to  every  soul  of  man,  is,  as  "wisdom  justified 
of  all  her  children,"  the  Life  of  Light  to  poor,  fallen 
human  nature.  And  although  it  be  the  theme  of  everv 
Christian  Church,  as  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  "  so 
we  preach,  and  so  ye  believed ;"  yet  to  make  this  more 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  133 

than  a  mere  historical  belief,  the  shameful  trial  of  our 
Saviour,  and  the  dismal  avenues  of  his  travel  from 
Gethsemane  to  Golgotha,  arc  of  too  much  importance  to 
that  godly  sorrow,  which  "workcth  repentance,"  to  pass 
with  the  mere  currency  of  the  ordinary-  Sabbath's  offering. 

With  this  view,  the  ^Moravian  Church  adopted,  as  they 
thought,  and  as  we  indorse,  a  more  active  and  impressive 
avenue  to  the  practised  faith  of  its  members. 

The  Passion  of  our  Saviour  is,  therefore,  annually 
memorialized  by  a  succession  of  evening  meetings,  from 
Palm  Sunday  evening  to  the  Burial  on  Good  Friday 
evening. 

They  differ  from  their  brethren  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, not  only  in  the  form  of  presenting  the  history,  but 
also  in  the  manner  of  conducting  the  service. 

"  The  Acts  of  the  Days  of  the  Son  of  Man,  from  the 
Passion  Week  to  His  Ascension,"  are  a  compend  of  the 
Four  Gospels,  and  harmonize  the  whole  into  a  regular 
narrative,  connecting  his  s?.yings  and  doings  from  day  to 
day  for  that  week. 

A  separate  service,  is,  therefore,  held  on  every  evening 
of  the  week,  beginning  with  Palm  Sunday,  detailing  the 
acts  of  that  day. 

The  first  meeting  is  opened  by  prayer  and  an  illustra- 
tive address  from  the  minister.  The  reading  is  relieved 
of  the  semblance  of  monotony  by  the  introduction  of  a 
suitable  verse  or  hymn  at  different  points  of  the  narrative, 
aided  in  solemnity,  and  deepening  the  impressiveness  of 
the  scene,  as  its  godlike  majesty  yields  to  the  severity 
and  vengeance  of  human  depravity. 

Maunday,  or  Mandate  Thursday,  so  called  from  the  in- 
stitution of  the  Last  Supper,  on  that  day,  and  the  com- 


1S4  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

mand  of  our  Saviour  to  his  disciples  thus  to  commemo- 
rate him,  is  particularly  solemnized  by  an  implicit  obedi- 
ence to,  and  observance  of,  the  memorial  and  the  injunc- 
tion. 

To  this  end,  the  afternoon  of  that  day  is  appropriated 
to  this  service,  the  formula  being  the  same  as  on  the 
stated  meetings  for  that  purpose ;  but  the  preceding 
development  of  the  increasing  sufferings  of  Christ,  hav- 
ing imbued  the  mind  with  a  solemnity,  arising  from  the 
continuous  review  of  his  painful  times,  the  soul  is  the 
more  susceptible  of,  and  certainly  does  enjoy  the  spiritual 
life  presented  and  intended  by  the  Holy  Offering.  And 
if  there  can  be  any  difference  in  solemnity  in  the  admi- 
nistration of  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  is  on  this  special  occa- 
sion, as  on  bended  knee  the  participants  hymn  their  faith 
and  their  acknowledgments.  They  melt  and  mingle 
their  heart's  effusions  in  poetic  strains,  thus : 

"  Act,  full  of  Godlike  majesty, 
0  Love's  abyss,  I  am  lost  in  thee, 

0  mystery  all  our  thoughts  surpassing, 
Now  all  our  wants  are  well  supplied  ; 
And  we  show  forth  that  Jesus  died 

As  oft  as  we  enjoy  this  blessing." 

In  the  evening,  the  acts  of  Thursday  are  continued  and 
finished. 

The  high  priestly  prayer  being  a  part  of  this  service,  is 
read,  the  congregation  standing ;  and  as  the  narrative 
proceeds,  and  leads  the  mind  to  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  and  the  Hail,  Master  !  is  followed  by  a  treacherous 
kiss,  the  heart,  prepared  for  confession  and  supplication, 
the  devout  and  prayerful  outpouring  from  the  sacred 
desk  reaches  the  kindred  spirit  of  the  bowed  assemblage. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  135 

who  breathe  their  heartful  response  in  one  of  Zinzen- 
dorft^'s  most  happy  conceptions,  thus  set  forth: 

"  Most  Holy  Lord  and  God, 
Holy,  almighty  God, 
Holy  and  most  merciful  Saviour, 
Thou  eternal  God, 
Bless  thy  congregation. 
Through  thy  sufferings,  death,  and  blood, 
Have  mere}',  0  Lord." 

The  nature  and  import  of  this  part  of  the  history,  the 
vocal  harmony  of  chastened  thought  combined  with  the 
mellow  tones  of  the  organ,  all  mingle  with  the  spiritual 
might  of  the  ministerial  effort,  and  heart  answers  to  heart 
with  tearful  evidences  of  a  renewed  impression  of  its  own 
umvorthiness,  and  the  agonizing  sacrifice  for  its  redemp- 
tion.* 

GOOD   FRIDAY. 

The  solemnities  of  this  day  are  pursued  in  the  same 
manner  as  those  preceding,  varying  only  in  the  adapta- 
tion of  the  hymn  or  verse,  as  the  account  of  the  trial,  the 
condemnation,  and  the  crucifixion  progresses. 

The  forenoon  of  the  day  was  appropriated  to  this  ser- 
vice, and  the  afternoon  to  the  regular  Divine  service  and 
a  sermon. 

Good  Friday  is  a  high  and  a  holy  day  in  the  Church, 
and  is  held  especially  sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  ago- 
nizing sufifcrings  of  Christ. 

In  the  evening,  the  narrative  is  concluded  with  the 

*  This  order  of  service  has  been  reversed  ;  the  Communion  being  admi- 
nistered in  the  evening  instead  of  the  afternoon,  and  reading  in  the  after- 
noon for  the  accommodation  of  the  communicant  members. 


136  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

details  of  tlie  descent  from  the  cross,  and  the  burial, 
under  the  liberal  and  kindly  sympathies  of  Joseph  of 
Arimathea;  but  as  the  narrative  is  short,  it  partakes 
more  of  a  liturgical  service,  and  deepens  in  interest  as 
hymn  adds  to  hymn  the  heartfelt  sympathies,  working  a 
"godly  sorrow"  in  the  subjects  of  that  wrath  that  cost  so 
great  a  sacrifice  to  appease.  This  observance  from  first 
to  last  is  by  no  means  wrought  in  fancy.  Its  eftect  upon 
the  soul  is  indescribable,  and  its  influence  upon  spiritual 
growth  is  worthy  of  any  sacrifice  to  obtain. 

Where  the  Spirit  of  God  is  so  earnestly  and  so  continu- 
ously invoked,  it  comes  in  virtue  of  the  promise,  "  Ask, 
and  ye  shall  receive,"  and  illumines  the  halo  of  its  conge- 
nial atmosphere,  increasing  faith,  and  in  a  great  measure 
realizing  the  pursuit  of  their  souls.  They,  therefore,  in 
heart  and  voice,  h3'mn  the  life  of  their  faith  in  the  melo- 
dious offerings  of  their  souls. 

"  Though  we  can't  see  our  Saviour 

With  these,  our  mortal  eyes, 
Our  Faith,  which  tastes  his  favor, 

The  want  of  sight  supplies. 
Our  hearts  can  feel  hiui  near, 

So  that  to  us  'tis  clear, 
His  presence  is  as  certain 

As  if  we  saw  him  here." 

This  closes  the  penitential  services  of  the  season  of 
Lent,  and  leaves  an  impression  that  is  not  easily  oblite- 
rated. 

EASTER    DAY. 

The  momentous  period  of  the  resurrection  is  at  hand, 
the  sepulchre  has  had  its  charge,  the  stone  sealed,  and 
the  watch  had  been  set. 


IN    nilLADELPIIIA.  137 

"If  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and 
your  faith  is  also  vain;"  thus  saith  St.  Paul,  1  Corinth. 
15  :  14,  and  so  we  believe;  and  in  virtue  of  our  fuitli,  the 
resurrection  is  celebrated,  at  early  dawn  of  the  day,  with 
full  purpose  of  heart,  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  God. 

This  service  opens  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
Easter  Sunday. 

The  organ  announces  the  joyous  victory,  with  all  its 
powers. 

The  minister  enters,  the  organ  ceases,  the  congrega- 
tion rise,  whilst  the  minister  makes  the  declaration  in 
audible  tone. 

"  The  Lord  is  risen,  the  Lord  is  risen  indeed."     Then        / 
follows  the  choral  of  adorative  rejoicing. 

"  Hail,  all  hail,  victorious  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Thou  hast  burst  the  bonds  of  death  ; 
Grant  us  as  to  Mary,  that  great  favor, 
To  embrace  thy  feet  in  faith. 
Thou  hast  in  our  stead  the  cross  endured, 
And  for  us  eternal  life  procured  ; 
Joyful  we,  with  one  accord, 
Hail  Thee,  as  our  risen  Lord." 

The  history  of  the  great  event  then  follows ;  after 
which,  the  "Easter  Morning  Litany"  is  most  impres- 
sively read  by  the  minister,  and  as  impressively  responded 
to ;  and  as  the  creed  or  faith  of  the  Church  is  developed, 
and  paragraph  succeeds  paragraph,  a  short  stanza  of  music 
lights  up  the  service  as  it  nears  its  conclusion.  The 
whole  service  ends  with  the  following  confirmation  of  the 
faith  of  the  Church. 

"  Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead. 
Thou  shalt  rise,  too,  saith  my  Saviour ; 


/ 


138  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Of  what  should  I  be  afraid, 
I  with  him  shall  live  forever. 
Can  the  head  forsake  its  limb, 
And  not  draw  me  unto  him  ? 

"  No,  my  soul,  he  cannot  leave  : 
This,  this  is  my  consolation  ; 
And  my  body  in  the  grave 
Rests  in  hope  and  expectation, 
That  this  mortal  flesh  shall  see, 
Incorruptibility." 

Hard  must  be  the  heart  and  obstinate  the  sensibilities 
that  can  resist  the  influence  of  such  a  delineation  of  the 
merits  of  the  life,  sufferings,  and  death  of  the  Eedeemer, 
and  no  less  obtuse  the  soul,  that  cannot  swell  a  grateful 
lay,  at  the  conquest  in  His  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

The  mode  and  character  of  this  review  is  graphic,  and 
calculated  to  carry  the  soul  back  to  the  scene  of  the 
original  facts,  and  imbue  it  with  a  holy  certainty,  inef- 
faceable by  time,  sense,  or  infidelity. 

And  such  is  the  eflfect,  evidenced  firstly  by  the  extensive 
gathering. 

Secondly.  By  the  strict  attention  to  the  subject  before 
them.     And, 

Thirdly.  By  the  decided  influence  upon  them,  as  sin- 
cere worshippers  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  depiction  of  the  resurrection  is  rendered  even 
more  interesting  in  the  town  or  country  congregations, 
where,  after  reading  the  history  in  the  church,  the  whole 
congregation  proceed  in  form  to  the  burial-ground,  pre- 
ceded by  a  band  of  trombones,  who,  with  choral  harmony, 
lead  them  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  there,  after  the 
solemn  voice  of  the  Easter  Morning  Litany,  swell  the 


IN    nilLADELPIIIA.  139 

"wclkiu  with  bursts  of  harmonious  rejoicing,  at  the  con-    I 
quest  of  Christ  over  sin,  death,  hell,  and  the  grave. 

This  ceremony,  lit  by  the  early  dawn,  and  even  gilt  as 
the  sun  peeps  over  the  horizon,  at  the  sacred  memora- 
hilia,  as  if  to  hallow  the  oii'ering  of  adoration,  is  even 
more  interesting  and  impressive  in  the  country  than  in  the 
city  congregations. 

There,  from  the  sepulchres  of  those  who  await  a  "glo- 
rious resurrection  to  the  life  of  the  world  to  come,  "He 
who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life  is  announced  as  / 
having  burst  the  tomb,  and  "  led  captivity  captive  ;"  and 
thence  the  spiritual  greeting  of  Ilim,  who,  as  on  that 
eventful  morn,  fulfilled  all  prophecy  concerning  himself, 
and  thence  too  the  confession  of  faith,  and  the  grateful 
outpourings  of  a  worshipping  assembly. 

The  place,  the  time  of  day,  the  liturgical  service,  the 
union  of  heart  and  soul,  filling  the  atmosphere  with  the 
poetical  melody  of  their  afifections,  can  never  fail  to  make 
an  indelible  impression  upon  every  participant  in  this 
beautiful  service. 

i^ASTER    MONDAY. 

The  ecclesiologicalyear  closes  with  the  Easter  holidays, 
and  on  the  evening  of  Easter  Monday,  after  reading  of 
our  Saviour's  aj^pearance  and  walk  with  two  of  his  disci- 
ples to  Emmaus,  &c,  &c.,  a  love-feast  was  distributed,  and 
an  account  of  the  finances,  arising  from  various  contribu- 
tions throughout  the  year,  as  well  as  a  detail  of  the  expen- 
ditures, was  submitted  to  the  congregation,  who  always 
passed  the  expose  without  a  dissenting  voice. 

This  association,  however,  being  found  inconvenient. 


140  HISTORY   OF    TUB    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

and  perhaps  rather  incongruous,  the  financial  affairs  have 
been  separated,  and  anticipated  earlier  in  the  year.  And 
the  evening  of  Easter  Monday  is  exclusively  observed  as 
a  meeting  for  religious  worship,  consummating  the  whole 
in  a  love-feast,  which  the  next  chapter  will  more  fully 
explain. 


IN    PHILADELPniA.  141 


CHArTER  XXIII. 

The  Agapae,  or  Love-feasts. 

The  antiquity  and  practice  of  keeping  love-feasts  as  a 
religious  ceremonial,  liaving  Holy  Writ  for  its  basis,  has  / 
been  continued  from  the  earliest  date  of  Moravianism ; 
not  only  by  the  Moravians,  but  by  several  other  Chris- 
tian denominations,  difiering,  however,  in  manner  and 
in  matter. 

The  "  Dunkers"  observed  it  more  as  a  "  feast  of  charity" 
or  benevolence,  and  hence,  more  apostolically  than  some 
of  the  other  observers  of  the  custom.  They  have  meat, 
potatoes,  soup,  &c.  &c.,  and  feed  their  poor  as  an  act  of 
loving  kindness. 

The   Methodists  serve   bread   and   water ;   v^diilst  the       { 
Moravians  serve  coffee,  in  some  places,  and  chocolate  and      j 
cake  in  others ;  both  as  a  test  of  love  and  unity  in  their 
congregations,   and   not  as  a  general  hunger-appeasing 
feast. 

"Whatever  the  material  may  be,  the  spirit  is  the  same, 
though  the  modern  mode,  or  dispensation,  is  evidently  a 
compromise  of  the  ancient ;  but,  as  then,  so  now,  it  is 
regarded  as  a  religious  observance. 

Love-feasts,  and  the  "kiss  of  peace,"  were  originally 
connected  with  the  Holy  Communion,  and  even  in  the 
present  century,  was  so  ordered  in  the  town  congrega- 


142  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CIIURCfl 

tions  of  the  Moravian  Church,  where  also  they  were,  and 
are  yet,  more  frequent  than  in  the  city  churclies ;  memo- 
rial days,  and  choir  festivals,  being  there  more  particu- 
larl}^  observed  than  here,  saving  that  the  facilities  of 
retirement  protect  the  participants  from  the  gaze  and 
intrusion  of  idle  curiosity. 

Under  a  different  regime,  after  the  times  when  the 
Apostles  "had  all  things  in  common,"  the  love-feast  was 
substituted. 

St.  Chrysostom  says,  "Upon  certain  days,  after  par- 
taking of  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  met  at  a  common 
table,  the  rich  bringing  provisions,  and  the  poor  who  had 
nothing,  being  invited."  The  spirit  is  still  the  same, 
since  the  poor  members  or  worshippers  in  the  Society, 
are  always  invited,  without  the  expectation  of  "any  pecu- 
niary return." 

In  the  early  time  of  this  church,  the  love-feasts  were 
paid  for  by  contributions  of  the  more  able  members ;  the 
expense  being  small,  one  member  sometimes,  and  again 
at  others  some  two,  three,  four,  and  even  six,  liquidated 
the  charge. 

In  more  modern  times,  and  even  now,  the  expense  is 
defrayed  by  a  general  collection  after  service,  at  which 
those  who  choose,  or  are  able,  may  contribute. 

The  stated  times  for  these  love-feasts,  in  this  church, 
were  Christmas  Eve,  second  Christmas  Day,  jSTew  Year's 
Eve,  and  Easter  Monday  evening. 

But,  in  addition  to  these,  a  visit  by  the  Bishop,  or  any 
other  official  of  the  Church,  was  always  welcomed  with  a 
congregational  love-feast. 

It  also  aided  the  solemnities  of  the  forewell  ceremonies 
of  a  departing  pastor,  and  greeted  his   successor  with 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  143 

loving  kindness ;  whilst  tlie  congregation,  giving  wings 
to  their  supplications,  appealed  to  the  throne  of  grace, 
from  the  melody  of  their  hearts. 

"  Lord  Jesus,  for  our  call  of  grace, 

To  praise  thy  name  in  fellowship, 
We're  humbly  met  before  thy  face, 

And  in  thy  presence  love-feast  keep. 
Shed  on  our  hearts  thy  love  abroad, 

Thy  Spirit's  unction  now  impart. 
Grant  we  may  all,  0  Lamb  of  God, 

In  thee  be  truly  one  in  heart." 

These,  and  other  like  sentiments,  in  like  manner,  gave 
a  spiritual  zest  to  the  temporal  ceremonial. 

The  discipline  was  exacting  upon  the  members  of  this 
association. 

If  a  brother  or  sister  was  at  variance  with  others  of  the 
Church,  they  were  required  to  be  "first  reconciled,  and 
then  come  and  ofier  their  gift;"  and  if  they  could  not 
settle  their  difference  amicably,  a  reference  to  the  pastor 
generally  softened  their  asperity,  and  equalized  a  spirit  of 
forgiveness;  but  if  this  failed — which,  however,  seldom 
happened — the  dissenting  parties  could  not  be  admitted. 

"Let  the  peace  of  God  rule  in  j'our  hearts,  to  the 
which,  also,  ye  are  called  in  one  body,"  was  an  injunction 
well  ordered,  and  well  observed  in  the  pristine  discipline 
of  this  Church. 

The  march  of  improvement  had  not  yet  refined  Chris- 
tian simplicity,  nor  led  its  purity  to  the  shrine  of  eti- 
quette and  formality. 

Doubtless,  there  were  crooked  disciples,  too,  in  those 
days;  but  certainly  they  were  "few,  and  far  between;" 


144  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

but  great  would  be  the  pen  that  could  trace  all  the  virtues 
of  our  fathers  in  the  present  generation  ! 

Truly,  the  spirit  of  the  age  does  not  seem  to  have  done 
much  for  the  apostolic  and  humble  bearing  of  the  early 
fathers  of  the  Church. 

The  Moravian  Church  is  well  known ;  as  well  for  its 
distinctive  features  as  for  its  missionary  spirit  and  labors; 
and  the  continuance  of  its  wholesome  practices  must,  or 
ought  to  be,  ever  and  anon,  not  only  religious,  but  a  pro- 
fitable inheritance  from  the  early  fathers. 

For  although  the  religious  peculiarities  of  the  Church 
were  neither  rubrical  nor  doctrinal,  they  were  all  drawn 
Ij  from  Scripture,  and  are  ably  supported,  as  well  by 
precept  as  by  example  ;  and  were  profitable,  as  well  for 
doctrine  as  for  "  reproof,  correction,  and  instruction  in 
righteousness,  that  the  man  of  God  might  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  w^orks." 

It  is,  therefore,  a  pleasurable  association  with  the 
spirit  of  our  fiithers,  to  memorialize  them  and  their  happy 
and  pious  efibrts,  as  we  yet  meet, 

"  And  in  God's  presence,  love-feast  keep.'' 

Unavoidable  and  untoward  circumstances,  chargeable 
to  the  general  march  of  improvement,  however,  or  the 
refinement  of  the  ago,  have  limited  the  privilege  in  our 
city  churches  to  the  periods  already  laid  down ;  and 
Christmas  afternoon,  New  Year's  Eve,  and  Easter  Mon- 
day evening,  are  still  memorialized  by  the  holy  keeping 
of  a  cono-reirational  love-feast. 


A  MORAVIAN   SISTER  I^N   COSTl-^VIE. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  145 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Dress,  Address,  and  Manners  of  the  Early  Moravians. 

"Let  your  moderation  be  known  to  all  men,"  tliougli 
general  in  its  application,  may  be  rendered  specific  in  its 
results. 

That  the  Moravians  were  a  plain,  unassuming  people, 
is  evident  from  the  still  existing  relics  of  their  simplicity, 
a  cardinal  virtue,  obnoxious  to  fashion,  forbidding  to 
vain  show,  but  fraternizing  with  economy,  and  harmo- 
nizing with  their  Christian  profession. 

Their  apparel,  therefore,  was  unstudied,  except  in 
cleanliness,  and  their  taste  chastened  by  disciplined 
judgment.  The  strait,  unlapelled,  dark  brown  coat,  the 
broad-brimmed,  low-crowned  hat,  the  knee-buckled  small 
clothes,  the  broad,  round-toed  shoe,  were  consistent 
characteristics  of  a  Moravian  brother ;  whilst  the  plain 
drab  or  black  silk  bonnet,  the  three-cornered  white 
kerchief,  the  plain  silk  gown  (Sunday  dress),  the  com- 
fortable hood-finished  cloak,  the  "  stuff"  shoe,  for  comfort 
and  convenience,  were  the  sisters'  concession  to  St. 
Peter's  advice,  "  whose  adorning,  let  it  not  be  that  out- 
ward adorning  of  plaiting  the  hair,  and  wearing  of  gold, 
or  putting  on  of  apparel." 

Their  manners  were  bland,  courteous,  and  winning. 
"Whilst  the  essence  of  their  souls  illumined  their  brow, 

10 


146  HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

and  the  lustre  of  their  countenance  reflected  the  har- 
mony of  their  peace-imbued  hearts,  their  address  was  the 
growth  of  our  Saviour's  planting,  who  said  to  his  dis- 
ciples, "  One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are 
brethren ;''  and  watered  by  St.  Paul,  "For  both  he  that 
sanctifieth  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all  of  one ;  for 
which  cause,  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren." 

The  salutation,  therefore,  was  "Brother,"  to  brother, 
and  "  Sister,"  to  sister;  and  this  custom  continued  invio- 
late, till  within  the  last  thirty-seven  years,  since  1820 
witnessed  the  fractional  falling  off  of  the  ties  that  bound 
heart  to  heart,  in  the  bond  of  brotherly  friendship.  A 
"Mister,"  or  a  "Mistress,"  was  not  known,  and  the 
appellation  would  have  called  up  a  blush  and  a  frown 
upon  the  recipient  of  such  refinement.  Like  their 
Master,  they  were  not  ashamed  to  call  each  other 
brethren. 

The  wedge  of  waywardness,  once  entered,  made  a 
chasm,  difficult,  if  ever,  to  be  reunited,  and  worst  of  all, 
the  evil  began  at  the  fountain  head. 

Fashion  paid  its  respects  to  Bethlehem,  and  Beth- 
lehem in  courtesy  accepted,  and  vied  in  the  compliment ; 
and  some  were  ashamed  or  thought  it  too  old-fashioned, 
and  perhaps  too  simple,  to  say,  '-'■  Brother,'"  and  even 
amongst  themselves,  "Mister,"  seemed  to  sound  more 
dignified. 

AVithout  boasting,  Philadelphia  was,  and  is  even  yet, 
more  tenacious  of  its  early  education,  impression,  and 
conviction. 

"Pend  your  hearts,  and  not  your  garments,"  was  the 
well-observed  manners  in  cases  of  death. 

It  was  a  privilege  and  a  principle  of  the  Church  to 
eschew  outward  mourning  for  a  deceased  relative,  of  any 


0 


-  IN    PHILADELPHIA.  147 

grade,  and  the  sable  habiliment  was  never  oflcred  to 
deepen  the  shade  of  a  sorrowing  heart,  till  early  in  the 
present  century,  when  Fashion  offered  its  services,  and 
the  full-craped  hat  presented  its  claims  to  human  sym- 
pathy. Philadelphiahad  not  yet  advanced  in  this  refine- 
ment. 

A  brother  from  here,  on  a  visit  to  Bethlehem,  seeing 
one  pass  in  the  sable  hue  of  sorrow,  said  to  the  writer 
of  this,  "There  goes  one  dissatisfied  with  God's  provi- 
dence." 

Grief,  of  course,  could  not  be  forbidden  nor  suppressed, 
but  it  might  be  chastened;  the  community  was  instructed 
first,  to  believe  that  the  departed  were  gone  home  ;  and, 
therefore,  secondly,  "  not  to  grieve  as  they  that  are  with- 
out hope."  If  any  insignia  of  bereavement  was  adopted, 
it  was  a  white  ribbon  on  a  sister's  bonnet;  but  the  brother 
continued  his  usual  dress  ;  but,  even  now,  the  fountain- 
head  of  example  can  boast  of  more  shades  of  sorrow  than 
its  Philadelphia  charge. 

There  was  a  time  when  peace  encircled  our  borders, 
and  its  influence  sat  smiling  upon  the  countenances  of  the 
inhabitants  of  our  little  Zion ;  when  a  brother  could 
answer  the  inquiry  after  his  well-being,  "  Jcmd  vergnilgt" 
happy  as  a  child.  Alas !  alas  !  for  the  irrevocable  distance 
of  the  things  that  were  ! 

"Wliat  is  gained  by  the  novelties  of  the  day,  in  exchange 
for  the  more  immediate  influence  of  a  pure  spirit,  un- 
checked by  the  flitting  clouds  of  worldly  interference? 
"Wliat  is  gained  by  the  circuitous  route  to  that  "  holiness, 
without  which  no  man  shall  see  God  ?" 

Our  Saviour  said,  "  Except  ye  become  as  a  little  child," 
&c. ;  our  kindly  ecclesiological  patron  set  the  example, 


148  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CIIURCH 

and  taught  childlike  simplicity;  but,  brethren,  where  are 
we  now  ?  There  is  such  a  thing  as  keeping  up  whole- 
some discipline. 

The  Society  of  Friends,  as  a  body,  have  deviated  less 
than  the  Moravians  from  their  original  simplicity;  their 
plain  dress  yet  qualifies  their  plainness  of  speech;  whilst 
their  calm  and  moral  bearing  marks  their  distinctive  cha- 
racter, and  presents  a  consistency  \vorthy  of  emulation. 

That  there  may  be,  and  doubtless  arc,  crooked  disciples 
amongst  them,  is  not  to  be  disputed;  but,  if  they  become 
too  knotty,  and  will  not  be  straightened,  their  member- 
ship is  forfeited. 

Without  controversy,  it  may  be  asserted  that  a  Quaker 
in  black  would  certainly  be  a  curiosity  ;  nor  is  it  common 
for  them  to  disparage  their  profession  by  a  compromise, 
even  of  their  plain  language.  Dift'ering  from  them,  as 
we  do,  in  our  religious  views,  they  are  justly  entitled  to  the 
respect  and  the  protection  of  the  world,  for  their  chasten- 
ing influence,  and  promotion  of  the  peace  of  the  places 
wherein  they  dwell;  and  this  being  conceded,  the  wonder 
cannot  be  wondered  at,  that  others,  who  had  built  upon  the 
same  foundation,  and  were  originally  quite  as  well  taught 
and  disciplined,  could  not  do  likewise.  "  Brethren,  these 
things  ought  not  so  to  be." 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  149 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Music  and  its  Application — Church  Choirs — Objections,  &c. 

It  Avill  not  be  necessary  to  show  up  the  origin,  or  prove 
the  use  of  instrumental  music  in  the  Church,  seeing  that, 
from  Genesis  to  Revelations,  precept  and  example  fully 
set  it  forth,  as  a  medium  to  elevate  the  soul,  or  chasten 
the  senses,  as  occasion  might  require. 

In  this  Church,  the  science  of  music  has  ever  been  an 
appendage  to  the  education  of  its  ministers,  and  few 
there  are,  who  are  not  able  themselves  to  perform  the 
services,  or  consistently  advise  with  the  officers  and 
members  of  that  department. 

This  being  the  case,  beside  the  cardinal  point  of  a 
strictly  religious  application  of  its  powers,  it  has  been 
ever  guarded  as  a  sacred  avenue  to  the  heart,  and  a 
medium  of  inspiration  to  "the  praise  and  glory  of  God." 
Light  or  frivolous  exhibitions  of  talent,  taste,  or  fancy 
on  the  organ,  were  positively  forbidden,  and,  as  hereto- 
fore noted,  silence  was  commanded  and  enforced  for  any 
infraction  of  the  order. 

Anthems  were  only  allowed  on  special  occasions,  and 
they  were  always  in  point  of  praise,  prayer,  or  suppli- 
cation. 

The  tunes  principally  used  were  collated  and  published 
by  the  Rev.  C.  Gregor,  in  Germany,  entitled,  "Choral 


150  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Buch,  entlnaltend  alle  zu  dem  Gesangbuch  der  Evan- 
gelischen  Brlidergemeineii  vom  Jalir  1778,  Gehorige 
Melodien:  Leipsig,  1784." 

These  tunes  were  set  in  the  tenor  cleff  and  written  in 
semibreves,  and  figured  for  thorough  bass.  They  are 
productions  of  the  best  masters,  and  are  rehgious  emana- 
tions from  the  very  soul  of  the  science  of  music. 

Tliey  were  not  named,  but  numbered,  and  9,  10,  15, 
22,  26,  or  any  other  number  in  the  tune  book,  was  as 
famihar  to  the  organist  as  Meer,  Ilotham,  or  any  other 
cognomen  to  modern  productions. 

But  they  were  also  set  to  particular  hymns,  and  the 
first  line  of  almost  any  one  of  them,  was  sufficient  indi- 
cation of  the  melody  to  follow. 

To  this  the  congregations  were  educated  by  practice, 
aided  by  a  strict  adhesion  to  their  own  tunes,  so  that  in 
Labrador,  or  Ireland,  a  Moravian  would  know  his  imme- 
diate brethren,  in  a  Church  service,  although  till  then  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

The  organ  has  long  been  the  leading  patron  of  the 
sacred  melody,  not,  however,  as  a  fancy  accompaniment, 
but  as  a  support  to  the  congregational  harmony,  which 
else,  in  singing  many  verses,  is  apt  to  sink,  and  thus 
produce  discord. 

But  the  organist  was  expected  to  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  his  office,  and  to  be  actu'ated  by  a  devotional  spirit, 
as  he  led  the  hymning  assembly  to  praise  or  petition. 

The  Rev.  Christian  Ignatius  Latrobe,  in  his  Preface  to 
his  extract  of  the  original  tune  book,  says  : 

"  There  is  scarcely  a  person  in  the  Church  who  more 
easily  exposes  his  inattention  and  want  of  true  devotion, 
than  the  organist ;  nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  sin- 
cere and  devout  people  conceive  a  musical  instrument 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  151 

improper  in  a  cliurcli,  because  they  have  never  heard  it 
•properly  used." 

What  would  Brother  Latrohe  say,  were  he  a  worship- 
per in  some  churches  of  the  present  day,  where  snatches 
of  song,  operatic  flirts,  and  unfledged,  fanciful  jets  of 
disconnected  apologies  for  ideas,  are  dealt  out  boldly, 
and  most  self-complacently  palmed  upon  a  congregation 
to  amuse,  instead  of  edify,  corrupting  taste  and  good 
manners,  and  in  a  great  measure  "  making  the  "Word  of 
God  of  none  effect." 

The  organist  in  this  church  has  a  respectable  standing, 
and  is  not  viewed  as  a  mere  underling.  His  business 
being  to  assist  in  the  devotion,  he  works  hand  in  hand 
with  the  minister ;  by  which  intercourse,  advised  of  the 
nature  of  the  subject  to  be  presented,  either  by  direct 
communication  or  the  character  of  the  hymns  prescribed 
in  advance,  harmonizes  his  sentiments,  and  gives  reli- 
giously, or  at  least  respectfully,  the  shades  or  the  lights 
that  are  to  come  from  the  sacred  desk. 

The  instrumental  music,  of  which  this  Church  is  no- 
where sparse,  was  neither  intended  nor  allowed  as  a 
diversion  or  an  amusement  in  the  interim  of  the  ser- 
vice; but  if  as  accompaniment,  they  were  subdued  to 
sacred  requirements;  if  as  voluntaries,  solemnization  of 
the  waiting  assemblage  was  incumbent  upon  them  ;  and 
if  as  for  interludes,  a  befitting  short  modulation,  leading 
the  mind  soberly  onward  to  the  successive  sentiment  of 
the  hymn  before  them  ;  whilst  if  for  festivals,  they  might 
shout  their  thanks  in  noble  strains,  and  "  make  a  joyful 
noise,"  or,  joined  by  sonorous  trombones,  search  the 
welkin  for  an  echo  of  praise  to  the  ever  adorable  Trinity; 
but  in  all  cases,  and  at  all  times,  everything  was  done 
"  decently  and  in  order." 


152  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHUKCH 

In  the  congregational  places,  various  musical  instru- 
ments are  in  use,  but  in  this,  there  was  but  one  appen- 
dage to  the  organ,  and  that  only  occasionally. 

A  single  brother,  of  ancient  date,  had  a  penchant  for 
"stringed  instruments  ;" — the  violin  was  his  hobby,  and 
church  music  his  beau  ideal  of  its  enjoyment. 

The  importance  of  this  old  gentleman  was  no  mean 
consideration,  and  the  choir  music,  or  anthems,  were 
deemed  incomplete  without  the  vibrating  evidence  of  his 
presence,  or  the  audible  pizzicato  of  his  A,  to  harmonize 
with  the  organ. 

He  sat  "  otium  cum  dignitate,"  at  the  side  of  the  organ, 
with  his  stand  before  him,  lit  up  by  a  tallow  candle,  in  a 
broad-bottomed  candle-stick,  supported  by  a  board  jutting 
from  the  square  of  his  triangular  desk,  and  balanced  by 
a  four-pound  weight,  at  the  other  end ;  to  all  which  a 
twitch  of  the  risiblcs  was  scarcely  repressible,  especially 
when  his  audible  whisper  to  the  organist,  for  his  A,  and 
the  conset[uent  pizzicato  of  his  string,  drew  the  attention 
of  the  quiet  audience,  to  w^itness  the  eager  ear,  to  catch 
the  tone  as  he  drew  the  bow  to  prove  his  perfect  fifth. 

The  elder  brethren,  compassionating  his  infirmity, 
rubbed  their  ears,  to  mitigate  the  pain  and  compromise 
the  penalty. 

This  extra,  however,  was  confined  to  the  winter  and 
spring,  which  happened  to  include  the  festivals ;  but  the 
congregation  was  favored,  nolens  volens,  with  the  stringy 
streak  in  the  choral  services,  during  the  whole  of  the 
patronizing  sojourn  of  this  venerable  amateur;  and, 
although  he  muted  the  bridge  of  his  "  braach,"  as  he 
most  significantly  called  it,  a  viola  or  tenor,  he  could  not 
forego  the  gratification  of  satisfying  himself  by  a  stroke 


IN    PHILADELIHIA.  153 

from  heel  to  tip  of  Ins  bow,  that  ho  had  enriched  the  liar- 
mony,  and  perfected  the  combined  efforts  of  the  organist 
and  his  choir. 

The  vocal  department  was  sustained  generally  by  boys, 
of  from  ten  to  thirteen  years  of  age,  of  which  the  writer 
had  the  honor  of  being  one;  and  we  were  taught  to  vene- 
rate our  calling,  and  to  sing  with  devotional  demeanor 
and  full  purpose  of  heart,  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  God. 
We,  of  course,  sang  by  rote  more  than  by  note,  and 
were  drilled  some  time  in  advance  of  the  respective  ser- 
vices; but  the  exemplary  deportment  of  our  pious  organist 
not  only  forbade  levity,  but  imbued  us  with  the  reverence 
due  to  the  solemnity  of  the  place  and  the  purpose  ;  and 
when,  for  the  Christmas  festival,  we  sang, 

"Our  Saviour's  birth  a,nd  bitter  passion, 
Cause  everlasting  jubilation, 
For  his  dear  congregation, 

Hallelujah !" 

we  were  made  to  understand  it.     Or,  when, 

"  Hark,  the  herald  angels  sing, 
Glory  to  the  new-born  King; 
Peace  on  earth  and  mercy  mild, 
God  and  sinners  reconciled. 
Joyful  all  ye  nations  rise, 
Join  the  triumph  of  the  skies ; 
With  the  angelic  hosts  proclaim, 
Christ  is  born  in  Bethlehem, 

flowed  from  our  lips,  our  sensibilities  responded,  from 
our  hearts,  a  corresponding  influence  to  inspire  the  sacred 
song. 

There  was  no  proxical  worship  of  Siuy  kind,  nor  aught 


154  HISTORY   OF   THE  MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

of  exhibition  of  fancy,  taste,  or  skill.  ""We  want  no  em- 
bellisliment,"  said  our  sober  organist,  when,  on  one  occa- 
sion— and  only  one — one  of  us  perpetrated  an  unbidden 
turn  ;  simply  he  played,  and  simply  we  must  sing. 

In  after-time,  some  two  or  three  girls  were  admitted  to 
the  choir ;  but  we  were  kept  apart  by  our  guardian  of 
peace  and  good  order. 

As  a  body,  we  Avere  only  called  into  service  on  special 
occasions ;  but,  as  two  or  three  of  the  ])oys  were  required 
to  supply  an  occasional  vacancy  at  the  bellows,  we  were 
permitted  to  occupy  the  backless  bench  at  the  side  of  the 
organ  ;  else,  as  a  choir,  we  were  disbanded  as  soon  as  the 
special  purposes  of  the  service  were  accomplished. 

Congregational  singing  was  nursed  and  promoted  as  a 
sacred  duty,  and  nothing  whatever  w^as  allowed  to  inter- 
fere, mar,  or  diminish  it.  Hence,  the  tune-book  of  the 
Church  was  closely  adhered  to  ;  and  the  j&rst  line  of  any 
hymn  found  its  melody  in  the  ready  evidences  of  a  con- 
gregational swell  of  harmony. 

Many  of  the  verses  of  the  Moravian  Ilj-mns  being  very 
long,  some  even  of  ten  lines,  and  the  peculiar  metres 
being  very  peculiar,  interludes  between  the  lines,  always 
befitting  the  subject,  seemed  a  necessary  relief  to  the 
voice,  as  well  also  as  to  keep  up  its  strength  to  the  pitch. 
This  performance  required  tact,  talent,  skill,  and  practice, 
for  a  smooth  and  congenial  connection  of  the  context, 
but  as  the  hymn  was  lined  by  the  minister,  in  connection, 
one,  two,  or  even  three  'at  a  time,  there  were  no  freaks  of 
fancy,  as  in  these  days,  inflicted  upon  the  congregation 
between  the  verses. 

In  a  word,  the  Hymnology  of  the  Church  was  as  much 
a  part  of  the  ivorship  as  the  prayers  or  preaching,  since  it 


IX   PHILADELPHIA.  155 

comprises  both,  and  as  the  minister  ahvays  suited  his 
hymns  to  the  subject  of  his  intended  discourse,  the 
organist,  by  his  ticket,  was  duly  apprised  of  his  duty,  and 
opened  and  continued  the  service  accordingly.  And  it 
is  a  praiseworthy  record  to  say,  that  to  this  day  there  has 
been  very  little,  if  any,  infraction  of  this  "faithful  con- 
tinuance in  well-doing." 

Whilst  on  this  subject,  I  cannot  forego  the  opportunity 
of  protesting  against  the  light,  trifling,  and  even  vulgar 
perpetrations,  in  the  musical  department  of  many  of  our 
sister  churches;  their  constituents  not  only  i^ermitting, 
but  encouraging,  aiding,  and  abetting,  the  tritely  called 
Young  America,  to  victimize  the  sanctuary  to  the  worldly 
bcgettings  of  Belial;  desecrating  the  noble  instrument  of 
prayer,  praise,  and  supplication,  to  the  lowest  degree  of 
a  street  hand-organ,  and  subverting  this  happy  medium 
to  the  heart,  to  the  influences  of  a  vain  show,  of  a  sickl}^, 
if  not  a  depraved  appetite,  of  an  experimenting  and  irre- 
ligious candidate  for  worldly  fame  and  popularity,  alto- 
gether inconsistent  with  the  place  and  the  trust  com- 
mitted to  him. 

"Jesus  Christ  to  be  w^orshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth," 
whose  religion  never  grows  old,  who  requires  the  same 
now,  as  He  did  at  the  date  of  his  personal  precept  and 
example,  what  say  ye,  brethren,  is  this  to  be  perfected  by 
the  spirit  of  the  age  ?  He  began  in  the  Spirit,  and  so 
taught;  are  we  to  improve  upon  his  pitr%  by  ending  in 
the  flesh  ?  God  forbid !  let  us  return  to  our  first  Chris- 
tian principles,  lest  He  fulfil  his  threat,  and  remove  our 
"candlestick  out  of  his  place."     (Revelations  2  :  5.) 

There  is  decidedly  too  much  importance  attached  to  the 
subsidiary  end  of  the   Church,  in  these  days ;  too  much 


156  HISTORY   OF   THE  MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

encomium,  or  depreciation  of  the  secondary  consideration 
in  the  worship;  all  which  is  begotten  by  a  thirst  for 
amusement,  or  a  sensual  appetite  for  comparative  popu- 
larity. 

The  minister  may  preach  his  throat  sore,  the  orchestra 
takes  the  lead,  and  the  compliments  to,  or  the  denuncia- 
tion of  the  organist,  or  his  choir,  leave  the  wayworn 
prelate  untold  and  unheralded,  but  not  unswept,  by  the 
unhallowed  breeze  of  all  their  thoughts  of  him  or  his 
holy  doings.  Popular  melodies,  hatched  from  operatic 
fancies,  dragged  into  the  Church,  are  but  meagre  apolo- 
gies for  plucking  Satan  of  his  so-called  superior  musical 
taste,  and  cannot  fraternize  nor  sympathize  with  those 
emotions,  which  the  heart  should  encourage  in  God's 
Holy  Temple,  to  come  out  from  the  world,  and  be  sepa- 
rate. If  the  Devil  has  the  best  tunes,  let  him  keep  them. 
"What  has  light  to  do  with  darkness,  or  Christ,  with 
Belial?" 

It  may  be  one  way  to  induce  people  to  go  to  church, 
but  a  dangerous  far  about  to  a  glorious  eternity. 

Sentences,  motets,  arias,  and  the  like,  are  of  modern 
date,  and  it  is  much  to  be  feared  are  mere  subterfuges  for 
the  deficiencies  of  a  non-inventive  genius.  They  arc 
seldom,  if  ever,  devotional,  are  no  part  of  the  service, 
and  whether  done  well  or  ill,  are  a  means  of  distraction 
of  the  sentiments  due  to  or  by  a  Christian  assemblage. 
The  invocation,  however  it  may  be  harmonized  and 
offered,  amounts  to  nothing  more  than  a  vain  exhibition 
of  fancy,  taste,  skill,  intonation,  and  all  the  concomitants 
of  a  worldly  catering  for  popularity. 

]!^either  were  voluntaries  or  extemporizing  in  advance, 
or  in  the  intermediate  service  of  the  Church,  ever  designed 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  157 

for  cxliibition  of  frcakful  fancy,  nor  as  sparkling  foun- 
tains of  popular  attraction,  much  less  as  competitors  for 
the  holy  influences  of  the  Divine  order  of  the  sanctuary. 
On  the  contrary,  the  opening  voluntary  was  intended, 
and  ever  should  be,  a  respectful  development  of  a  mind 
properly  impressed  with  the  sacred  duties  before  the 
organist;  edification  is  due  at  his  hands,  and  intelligence 
from  his  mind. 

"The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple;"  the  congregation  is 
there  to  worship  Ilim.  His  blessing  has  been  silently 
invoked,  and  the  emotions  of  the  heart  are  awaiting  the 
Spirit's  increase;  the  breath  of  rhythmic  harmony  should 
therefore  flow,  a  hallowed  inflaence,  to  aid  the  ingather- 
ing from  the  sacred  desk. 

The  intermediate  voluntary  should  be  a  consistent 
acknowledgment  of  the  past,  an  exordium  to  a  faithful 
continuance  in  well-doing,  as  well,  also,  as  a  premonitory 
symptom  of  good  things  to  come.  Alas !  how  are  we 
fallen  !     Alas !  alas ! 

It  is  a  lamentable  fact,  that  after  service  in  many  churches, 
the  interchange  of  sentiment  is  mostly  on  the  subject  of 
the  music. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  such  miserable  singing?"  says  one. 

"  Miss  Smith  was  flat  in  lier  alto." 

"Miss  Brown — shockina:!  a  reojular  screech  !  and  such 
a  tenor!  why  the  man  can't  sing  at  all!  and  the  bass,  too, 
a  bawl !  why,  we  have  better  street-music  !  Well,  if  they 
don't  have  better  music,  I,  for  one,  won't  come  to 
church !" 

"But  that  sketch  of  'Norma'  was  done  well!  and 
'  Sonnambula,'  in  the  voluntary,  just  before  the  hymn, 
was  splendid  !  but  the  hymn-tunC' — pshaw  !  what  a  bore!" 


158  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

"  Ila !  you  should  go  to  St. 's  ;  there  they  have  it ! 

'Zampa,'  'Jcun  Henri,'  'The  Barber  of  Seville,'  'Last 
Rose  of  Summer  !'  Oh  my,  it  is  equal  to  a  concert!" 

Such,  or  the  like,  is  too  often  the  compliments  to  the 
minister,  and  the  effect  upon  the  members,  or  very  many 
of  them,  of  the  dispersing  throng.  And  who  is  to  blame? 
In  answer,  we  ask.  Who  has  charge  of  this  sacred  duty  ? 
The  rector,  in  conjunction  with  such  of  his  vestry  as  are 
skilled  in  music.  It  is,  of  course,  not  to  be  presumed 
that  every  minister,  in  every  place,  is  a  musician  ;  nor 
can  we  concede  that  all  who  profess  to  know  something 
of  this  divine  art,  are  competent  to  direct  the  choir ;  but 
they  certainly  ought  to  know  the  difference  between  the 
use  and  the  abuse  of  the  organ ;  they  certainly  can  tell,  if 
not  by  their  senses  by  their  sight,  that  "holiness  belong- 
eth  to  thine  house,  0  Lord,  forever,"  and  that  worldly 
fantasies  cannot  be  so  blended  with  that  holiness,  as  to 
be  mistaken  for  a  motive  to  the  petition  to  the  Deity  to 
"cleanse  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts,  by  the  inspiration  of 
his  holy  Spirit." 

Surely,  if  the  shepherd  of  his  flock  should  be  wanting 
in  judgment,  in  a  matter  so  important,  there  must  be 
some  of  his  ingathering  who  could  aid  him  in  a  consist- 
ent keeping  of  the  church  service. 

But  alas  !  the  fatal  thirst  for  popularity  is  too  freely 
quenched  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  church,  and  the 
"charms  of  the  opera"  imbibed,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
offerings  from  the  sacred  altar. 

A  volume  might  be  written  on  the  subject  of  musical 
liberties  and  improprieties  in  the  Church,  but  my  imme- 
diate purpose  would  be  infringed  by  an  elaboration  of 
the  evil ;  and,  after  my  testimony  against  it,  it  behooves 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  159 

me  to  proceed  to  the  more  immediate  purpose  of  my  his- 
tory, apologizing  first  for  the  digression. 

This  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  was  in  being  from  1742  to 
1819,  a  period  of  seventy-seven  years. 

Its  influence,  associations,  and  growth,  have  been  fully, 
and  I  believe  faithfully  set  forth. 

The  impressions  of  youth  are  not  easily  effaced,  and  a 
contemporaneous  continuance  with  the  things  that  were, 
grow  a  history  in  the  recipient  of  current  facts. 

I  have,  therefore,  no  hesitation  whatever  in  offering  the 
preceding  details,  as  a  correct  issue  of  memory,  aided  by 
data  as  authentic  and  reliable. 

There  were,  however,  otficials  important  to  the  comple- 
tion of  this  part  of  my  history,  which  from  the  Eecords  I 
now  proceed  to  present. 


IGO  HISTORY   OF   THE    MOP.AVIAN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Continuance  of  the  Church  History — Succession  of  Officers  resumed  and 

continued. 

As  there  do  not  appear  to  Lave  been  any  regular 
minutes  from  1742  to  1785,  it  is  probable  that  the  super- 
vision of  this  branch  of  the  Church  was  confined  to  the 
ecclesiastical  court  at  Bethlehem,  whence  came  supplies, 
temporal  and  spiritual,  as  necessity  required,  whilst  the 
brethren  here  accounted  to  that,  as  the  head  of  the  mis- 
sion, for  all  their  acts,  domestic  or  ecclesiological,  by  pro- 
tocol or  diary. 

The  gathering  in  this  period  was  small,  and  being  con- 
fined to  more  immediate  missionary  purposes,  record  was 
lost  sight  of  in  the  current  of  their  missionary  zeal,  whilst 
their  accountability  passed  to  the  source  of  their  authority 
by  occasional  correspondence. 

Pecuniary  matters  were  of  secondary  consideration  ; 
they  required  but  little,  and  having  "godliness  with  con- 
tentment," "great  gain"  was  their  daily  feast. 

Time,  however,  began  to  show  the  fruits  of  their  labor, 
and  a  closer  or  more  local  organization  of  the  body  was 
necessary ;  and  hence  it  was  deemed  expedient,  as  it  was 
quite  practicable,  for  the  elder  brethren  to  put  this  youth 
of  their  "household  of  faith,"  now  more  mature,  upon  a 
more  self-supporting  platform. 


IS   PIIILADELPniA.  161 

Offices  wero  then  first  created,  and  officers  appointed  to 
the  respective  secular  duties  of  the  Church. 

Bishop  de  Watteville,  therefore,  as  heretofore  stated, 
came  to  PhiLadelphia  for  that  purpose,  and  appointed  the 
first  Committee,  viz. : 

Bernhardt  Adam  Grube,  and  ] 

>    Presiding  Ministers. 

Jacob  Fries,  j 

Adam  Goose,  George  SenneflT,      ^ 

^  _,,,  ^  ,^,,,/A  Standin<r   Commit- 

Georij-e  Schlosser,     Conrad  Gerhardt,  I 

>=>  ^  '    \      tee,  or  Vestry  of  the 

John  Peter,  Godfrey  Haga,        (     Church 

John  Cornman,        Thomas  Bartow,      } 

Of  this  body,  Thomas  Bartow  was  appointed  Secretary 
b}^  the  Committee. 

THE    SUCCESSION    OF    THE    MINISTRY. 

The  Brethren  Grube  and  Fries  seem  to  have  been  the 
central  point  of  the  organization  for  the  time  being,  see- 
ing that  in  the  same  year,  1785,  Brother  John  Meder  is 
the  President  of  the  Committee,  and  the  others  not 
named. 

Brother  John  Meder  served  from  October,  1785,  to 
1799,  when  he  was  called  to  serve  the  congregation  in 
Xcw  York,  and  Brother  John  Frederick  Frueauff'  filled 
the  vacancy  from  1799  to  1803 ;  when,  being  called  to  the 
inspectorship  of  Nazareth  Hall,  Brother  Joseph  Zaeslein 
took  his  place  here,  and  served  from  1803  to  1812. 

As  a  minister  could  not  remain  pastor  of  a  congrega- 
tion without  a  wife,  and  Sister  Zaeslein  having  departed 
in  this  year.  Brother  Zaeslein  was  necessarily  recalled, 
and,  for  the  time  being,  located  at  Bethlehem. 

11 


162  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

Brother  John  C.  Beckler  was  appointed  his  successor, 
remaining,  however,  only  one  year,  1812,  1813,  when  he 
wft8  appointed  to  the  station  at  Staten  Island. 

Brother  John  Meder  resumed  this  station,  ad  interim, 
until  a  more  regular  appointment  could  he  made ;  and 
sojourned  here  officially  from  1813  to  1814,  when  he 
retired  to  Kazareth. 

Brother  John  G.  Miller,  being  called  from  his  station 
at  Muskingum,  now  became  the  incumbent,  and  served 
from  1814  to  1817,  when,  being  called  to  Litiz,  Pa., 

Brother  William  Henry  Van  Vleck  assumed  the  pasto- 
rate by  the  regular  course  of  appointment,  and  continued 
his  services  from  1817  to  1822 ;  being  then  called  to  the 
inspectorship  of  Nazareth  Hall. 

Although  the  last  named  in  this  succession  overruns 
the  existence  of  the  edifice,  we  cannot  divide  his  time, 
but  note  his  service  to  its  terminus  in  Philadelphia. 

Confining  my  history,  therefore,  to  its  immediate  sj)here, 
the  clerical  catalogue  must  give  place  here  to  the  con- 
temporaries of  that  day,  and  hence  follows  the  succession 
of  the  subordinate  officers. 

The  original  Standing  Committee  continued  from  1785 
to  1794 ;  diminished,  however,  by  "  death's  doings,"  so  that 
in  March,  1794,  an  election  to  fill  vacancies,  declared  the 
following  result: 

Brethren,  Isaac  Smallwood, 

Jacob  Hitter,  Sen.,  and 
Jacob  Frank, 
in  place  of  deceased  Brethren,  Sennefi", 
Peter  and  Bartow. 

In  1803,  a  general  election  became  necessary  from  the 
same  cause,  and  the  Brethren 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  163 

Conrad  Gerhardt, 

Godfrey  Ilaga, 

Jacob  Frank, 

Jacob  Ritter,  Sen., 

John  Jordan,  and 

John  Boiler, 
constituted  the  ruling  authority  of  the  Church. 

1809,  Brother  Benjamin  Lyndall  was  chosen  in  place  of 
Brother  John  Boiler,  deceased. 

1817,  Brother  Jacob  Ritter,  Jr.,  in  place  of  Brother 
Conrad  Gerhardt,  deceased  in  1814. 

1818,  Brother  Thomas  C.  Lueders,  in  place  of  Brother 
B.  Lyndall,  deceased. 

Thus  far  the  Committee. 

The  Secretary  was  originally  a  member  of  their  body, 
and  was  entitled  of  course  to  a  vote,  but  subsequently  was 
chosen  from  the  congregation  by  the  Committee,  but 
ineligible  to  vote ;  in  due  time,  however,  they  were  ad- 
mitted, or  elected  into  the  body.  Frederick  Boiler  was 
the  first  thus  chosen. 

1785  to  1792.  Thomas  Bartow.. 

1792  to  1794.  Ecv.  John  Meder,  p.  t,  volunteer. 

1794  to  1802.  Frederick  Boiler,  appointed. 

1802  to  1809.  John  Boiler,  in  place  of  his  brother, 

Frederick  Boiler,  deceased. 
1809  to  1818.  Jacob  Bitter,  Jr.,  place  of  John  Boiler, 
.     deceased. 

1818  to  1825.  John  Wise  Peters,  in  place  of  J.  Ritter, 
Jr.,  elected  to  the  Committee. 

STEWARDS. 

Thomas  Bartow  was  the  first  steward  and  general  ac- 
countant, and  served  from  1785  to  1792. 


1G4  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

Brother  Conrad  Gerhardt  succeeded  him,  and  served 
from  1792  to  1814,  when  his  son,  William  Gerhardt,  lield 
the  office  ad  interim,  1814  to  1815,  when  Brother  John 
Jordan,  being  duly  appointed,  held  the  office  from  1815  to 
1836,  a  period  of  twent^'^-one  years. 

TREASURERS. 

1785  to  1814.  Brother  Conrad  Gerhardt. 

1814  to  1815.  Brother  Wm.  Gerhardt,  p.  t. 

1815  to  1834.  J.  Ritter,  Jr. 

COLLECTORS   OF   SUSTENTATION   FUND. 

1785.  Brother  George  Schlosser. 

1785  to  1788.  Brother  George  Senncff. 
1788  to  1793.  Brother  Godfrey  Haga. 
1793  to  1823.  Brother  Jacob  Ritter,  Sen., 

thirty  years. 

ALMONERS. 

1785.  Brother  Conrad  Gerhardt. 

1788.  Brother  George  Schlosser. 

1788  to  1814.  Brother  Conrad  Gerhardt. 
1815  to  1836.  Brother  ^Ym.  Gerhardt. 

ORGANISTS. 

George  Peter  and  John  Peter,  were  the  organists  of 
1785,  and  Frederick  Boiler,  John  Boiler,  and  Jacob  Boiler 
followed  in  succession. 

The  two  former  died  in  the  service,  and  the  latter  re- 
signed the  charge  into  the  hands  of  the  writer,  and 
Abraham  Ritter,  served  from  1811  to  1843. 


IN   PniLADELPIIIA.  165 

There  being  no  salaried  officers  in  the  church,  the 
organist  also  was  a  voluntary  de  facto ,  made  so  by  common 
consent  of  the  congregation,  but  in  after-times,  appointed 
by  the  Committee  of  the  Church ;  but,  from  first  to  last, 
all  the  offices  were  more  of  trust  and  confidence  than  of 
profit. 

CHAPEL   SERVANTS. 

1785  to  1787.  Brother  John  Merck. 
1787  to  1819.  Brother  Jacob  Frank. 
1787  to  1819.  Brother  Jacob  Hitter,  Sr. 
1801  to  1804.  Brother  Zachariah  Poulson. 

SUPERINTENDENTS    OF   THE    BURIAL-GROUND. 

178G.  Brother  Jacob  Ettwein  had  charge  of  the  ground, 
under  the  title  of  Grave-digger.  Several  successions 
occurred  from  other  outside  officials,  till  1812,  when 
Brother  Benjamin  Lyndall,  being  duly  appointed,  served 
till  1818 ;  and  from  1818  to  1836,  Brother  J.  Ritter,  Jr., 
was  the  incumbent. 

THE    INVITERS. 

These  functionaries  were  by  no  means  supernumeraries, 
but  as  important  in  their  sphere  as  the  maltre  de  cJiappelle 
of  a  cathedral,  in  the  catalogue  of  officers  ;  and,  there- 
fore, justly  and  respectfully  belong  an  historical  tribute 
to  Brother  John  Merck,  who  served  from  1786  to  1794  ; 
and  Henry  Cress  and  George  Gasner,  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  as  well  as  Peter  Fenner,  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  the  survivor  of  his  predecessors,  and,  doubtless, 


166  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

a  very  unwilling  witness  to  the  total  annihilation  of  the 
office  by  the  march  of  improvement. 

The  two  last  were  within  my  own  time.  The  former 
of  these,  Mr.  Gasner,  was  a  clapper  little  gentleman,  active 
and  intelligent,  and  always  at  home  in  good  manners. 
The  latter,  less  endowed  by  education,  but  proud  of  his 
calling,  was  equally  at  home  in  suavity  and  courteous 
civility. 

Thus  was  constituted  and  thus  stood  the  original 
Moravian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  and  thus  we  hand  it 
over  to  the  antiquarj^,  or  the  lover  of  ancient  landmarks, 
to  perpetuate  its  memory,  and  call  it  from  the  dying  tones 
of  its  requiem  of  1819. 

But  the  furtherance  of  its  purposes  did  not  depart  with 
the  shades  of  the  edifice.  The  foundation  still  remained, 
and  Jesus  Christ  being  its  corner-stone,  the  Spirit  waxed 
warm,  and  outgrew  the  confines  of  infancy,  and  an  increase 
of  border  became  absolutely  necessary. 

John  Adam  Goose,  a  German/  born  May  13th,  1712,  immigrated  to 
this  country  in  1740,  and  was  probably  an  original  member  of  the  Society. 
Departed  this  life,  November  2Sth,  1804  ;  aged  92  years,  6  months,  9  days. 

George  SennefF  departed  September  11th,  1788,  aged  57  years. 

George  Schlosser,  a  German  merchant,  departed  February  25th,  1802  ; 
aged  87  years. 

Conrad  Gerhardt,  born  in  Heidelberg  Township,  Pa.,  Xovember  22d, 
1740.     Departed  February  24th,  1815,  in  his  75th  year. 

John  Benedict  Peter,  biscuit  baker,  departed  October  10th,  1793,  in  his 
64th  year.     He  was  a  German. 

John  Everhard  Cornman,  a  German,  departed  June  22d,  1794,  in  his 
69th  year. 

Thomas  Bartow,  born  in  Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey.  Departed  January 
26  th,  1793  ;  aged  56  years. 

Godfrey  Haga,  a  German,  departed  1825. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  167 

Isaac  Smallwood,  boru  in  Jersey;  departed  Jan.  7th,  1811,  in  his  5Gth 
year. 

Jacob  Ritter,  Sr.,  born  in  Philadelphia,  Nov.  18th,  1754;  departed 
Nov.  3d,  1834,  80  years  of  age — less  15  days. 

John  Boiler,  a  German ;  departed  June  14th,  1808,  in  his  34th  year. 

John  Jordan,  Sr.,  born  in  Jersey;  a  grocer;  departed  Feb.  17th,  1845,  in 
his  75th  year. 

Benjamin  Lyndall,  born  near  Philadelphia;  departed  July  28th,  1818, 
in  his  56th  year. 

Jacob  Ritter,  Jr.,  born  in  Philadelphia;  departed  June  27th,  1840,  in  his 
57th  year. 

John  Frederick  Boiler,  a  German,  and  brother  to  John  Boiler;  departed 
Nov.  24th,  1802,  in  his  35th  year. 

John  W.  Peter,  born  in  Philadelphia;  departed  July  21st,  1830,  in  his 
42d  year. 

John  Peter,  born  in  Philadelphia;  departed  Oct.  19th,  1793,  in  his  37th 
year. 

George  Peter,  born  in  Philadelphia;  departed  May  11th,  1811,  in  his 
48th  year. 

For  Z.  Poulson,  see  biographical  sketch. 

John  Henry  Merck,  a  Dane,  born  Sept.  Gth,  1718  ;  departed  Aug.  28th, 
1794,  aged  77  years — less  9  days. 

Abram  Jacob  Frank,  born  in  Philadelphia,  Oct.  11, 1743 ;  departed  Nov. 
26th,  1819,  aged  7G  years,  1  month,  and  15  days. 

Jacob  Boiler,  died  Sept.  ICth,  1851,  aged  CO  years. 


168  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 


CHAPTEK  XXVII. 

The  Destruction  of  the  Old,  and  Erection  of  a  New  Building. 

The  increase  of  population,  the  din  of  business,  and 
the  popularity  of  Eace  Street  and  Moravian  Alley  as  a 
thoroughfare,  already  in  1800  induced  the  suggestion 
of  protecting  their  Sabbath  quiet,  by  stretching  chains 
across  Race  Street,  and  also  Moravian  Alley, — a  practice 
of  other  churches  of  that  day,  and  continued  till  1820 ; 
when  political  feuds  wrangled  with  Church  authority, 
and  party  spirit,  jealous  of  ecclesiastical  privileges,  peti- 
tioned and  strove  with  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  to 
abrogate  the  law  of  this  indulgence. 

In  1806,  therefore,  a  removal  was  agitated,  the  locality 
being  considered  obscure  to  a  spreading  population, 
noisy  as  a  thoroughfare,  and  the  edifice  inconvenient  to  a 
rising  generation  ;  but  lack  of  funds,  besides  the  difficulty 
of  fixing  upon  any  other  location,  left  the  matter  for 
future  consideration. 

In  1816  and  1817  again  the  subject  was  more  earnestly 
considered,  and  an  eye  to  the  burial-ground  set  with 
some  determination,  but  the  want  of  unanimity  on  this 
fixture  disjointed  the  proceeding,  and  action  was  sus- 
pended. 

In  1819,  however,  necessity  urged  its  claims.  The 
natural  increase  of  the  congregation  was  enhanced  by  the 


I    , 


.-4 


IX    PniLADELPIIIA.  1G9 

popularity  of  its  pastor,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Van  Vlcck,  in- 
duced as  well  by  his  unadorned  oratory  and  manner,  as 
the  Spirit-endowed  matter.  Untiring  in  zeal,  and  winning 
in  its  application,  he  reached  the  heart  kindly,  and  smote 
the  unrighteous  friendly,  and  warmed  the  atmosphere  of 
his  presence  with  the  sincerity  and  truth  of  his  ellusions, 
and  the  unmistakable  halo  of  humility. 

The  practical  and  pious  issues  of  this  "man  of  God," 
as  once  hailed  by  our  venerable  Bishop  Ilueftel,  are  too 
well  known  and  fresh  in  the  memory  of  many  of  his 
contemporaries,  to  need  an  apology  for  this  limited  but 
truthful  tribute  to  his  memorj'. 

There  was,  however,  another  impetus  to  the  maturity 
of  the  deliberations. 

Until  1817,  the  services  had  been  performed  alter- 
nately in  German  and  English,  respectively,  on  every 
other  Sunday ;  in  this  year,  however,  the  rising  genera- 
tion, untaught  in  German,  joined  the  mass  in  vetoing  the 
future  use  of  the  language  in  the  services  of  the  Church, 
and  a  vote  having  been  taken  on  the  subject,  gave  the 
English  party  a  decided  majority,  there  being  then  very 
few  surviving  Germans  in  the  church. 

This,  with  the  satisfactory  qualification  of  the  rector, 
compelled  the  Committee  to  unbend  their  limits,  increase 
their  borders,  and  embrace  the  offerings  for  a  more 
extensive  gathering. 

The  burial-ground  being  still  a  favorite  idea  with  many 
of  the  congregation  as  an  eligible  site,  the  subject  was 
thoroughly  canvassed ;  but  was  lost  in  the  majority  of 
objections,  as  well  local  as  general  and  social. 

Absence  of  funds  to  buy  a  lot  elsewhere,  as  well  as 
a  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  a  central  point,  left  but  the 


170  HISTORY   or  THE  -  MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

alternative  to  dispossess  the  original  of  its  venerable 
charge,  and  replace  it  with  a  more  modern,  a  more  con- 
venient, and  a  more  extensive  structure. 

In  the  month  of  February,  therefore,  A.  D.  1819,  the 
full  maturity  of  the  subject  resulted  in  an  engagement 
with  Joseph  Worrel,  a  member  of  the  Society,  to  erect  a 
clmrch  edifice  on  the  old  site,  leaving  the  orginal  par- 
sonage still  to  dignify  the  place  of  its  birth. 

Wherefore,  the  structure  was  placed  twelve  feet  from 
the  southern  line  of  the  parsonage,  extending  east  and 
west,  across  the  rear  of  the  two  Eace  Street  lots,  forty- 
four  feet,  and  north  and  south  fifty-three  feet,  leaving  a 
passage  on  the  west  of  about  five  feet,  and  one  on  the 
east  of  eleven  feet,  together  with  a  passage  on  the  south 
of  five  feet,  for  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  light 
and  air,  and  a  passage  from  Race  Street  to  the  front  of 
the  church  of  twenty  feet  in  width,  by  forty-seven  feet, 
being  the  distance  from  the  line  of  Race  Street. 

The  front  entrance  of  the  church  was  guarded  by  a 
small  vestibule,  of  about  five  feet  in  depth  and  ten  in 
breadth,  having  a  door  at  each  side  opening  to  the  stair- 
way of  the  galleries,  as  well  as  to  the  area  below ;  but  for 
the  more  convenient  egress  of  the  congregation,  a  large 
folding  door  formed  the  centre  of  the  partition. 

The  elevation  of  the  building  was  two  feet  six  inches, 
leaving  only  space  below  for  a  current  of  air. 

A  cellar  was  objected  to,  lest  at  some  future  period  it 
might  be  let  for  the  storage  of  malt  or  spirituous  liquors. 

The  height  of  the  building  was  twenty-nine  feet  to  the 
eaves,  and  thirty-six  feet  to  the  apex. 

The  interior  arrangement  was  plain  and  unadorned. 

The  pulpit  was  a  meagre  apology  for  a  sightly  rostrum, 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  171 

as  are  a  majority  of  that  important  appurtenance  of  the 
present  .da}',  and  wliicli  require  but  one  more  idea  to 
convert  into  oyster-boxes !  They  are  at  best  miserable 
and  mean  substitutes  for  the  old-style  real  pulpits;  and 
there  was  style  in  the  beautiful  panelled  breastwork  of 
polished  mahogany,  with  easy  curve  at  either  side,  rising 
with  dignity  to  the  platform,  or  for  the  characteristic 
pedestal,  with  neatly  covered  table  and  chair  beneath, 
difficult  to  pervert  by  thought,  or  convert  by  act,  to  any 
use  than  the  mount  to  elevate  a  Gospel  herald. 

The  nook,  a  very  small  room — the  vacuum  of  the  box 
before  us — was  an  antechamber  to  the  church  area,  and 
was  about  eight  by  twelve  in  dimensions,  having  a  quick 
stairway  to  the  platform  above,  and  a  door  of  ingress  and 
egress  at  each  side.  It  was  contrived  a  double  debt  to 
pay,  being  as  well  a  conservative,  for  the  preparation  of 
love-feasts,  as  the  private  receptacle  of  the  minister  before 
and  after  service. 

For  the  rest,  the  furniture  was  simplified  into  plain 
benches,  cushioned  only  as  a  desideratum  to  age  or  in- 
firmity. 

The  side  galleries  were  nine  feet  deep,  but  the  organ 
gallery  on  the  north  end  was  twelve  feet  deep  ;  in  which 
was  placed,  in  1825,  an  organ  built  by  E  .IS".  Scherr,  of  the 
following  disposition. 

Pedal,  c.c.     1  double  diapason,  16  feet. 

1  open,  8  feet,  or  octave. 
Great  Organ.     Bordun,  16  feet  (very  heavy). 

Stopped  Diapason,  8  feet. 

Open  Diapason,  8  feet. 

Hollow  Flute,  8  feet. 

Principal,  8  feet. 

Trumpet,  8  feet. 


172  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Swell.     Stopped  Diapason. 
Flute. 
Dulciana. 
Principal. 
This  organ  had  no  reeds  beyond  the  trumpet,  was  of 
very  heavy  tone,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  had  nothing  to  elas- 
ticize  it. 

Its  cost  was  $1200,  besides  the  organ  previously  in  use, 
which  cost  the  church  $400. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  building  was  laid  on  the  12th 
of  May,  1819  ;  and  the  work  prosecuted  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  following  members,  as  a  Building  Com- 
mittee, to  wit : 

Daniel  Man,  Jacob  Boiler, 

Francis  Kampman,  William  Gerhard,  and 

George  Ritter, 
and  was  consecrated  on  the  12tb  of  December,  of  the  same 
year. 

Bishop  HueiFel,  our  presiding  Bishop,  unable  to  be  pre- 
sent, sent  the  proper  credentials  to  Brother  Van  Vleck, 
who  presided  at  the  ceremonies,  and  was  aided  by  the 
Hev.  Mr.  Cruze,  of  the  English  Lutheran  Church,  and 
Dr.  Helmuth,  of  the  German  Lutheran  Church. 


'■^8^- 


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t.    ^aM>7' cr^:f/,  ^/^Oc^  ^^^ 


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4 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  173 


CHAPTER  XXYIII 

The  laterregnum — Demolition  of  the  Original  Parsonage. 

During  the  process  of  rebuilding,  the  public  worship 
was  held  in  the  old  Academy,  in  Fourth  below  Arch 
Streets ;  whilst  the  private  meetings,  Holy  Communion, 
pedelavium,  baptisms,  love-feasts,  &c.,  were  administered 
in  the  attic  of  the  old  parsonage.  This  apartment, 
denuded  of  its  partitions,  was  rendered,  of  sufficient 
capacity  to  accommodate  all  of  the  closer  members  of 
the  church,  the  organ,  the  benches,  and  the  chair  and 
table  of  the  hall,  being  removed  there,  and  conveniently 
arranged  for  their  intended  purposes. 

The  organ,  being  placed  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
room,  having  a  window  at  its  side,  was  made  available  as 
the  accompaniment  to  the  sacred  song  below,  during  the 
performance  of  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone 
of  the  new  church  edifice ;  the  eft'ect  of  which  was  both 
interesting  and  very  acceptable.  On  the  centre  of  the 
eastern  wall  of  this  room,  stood  the  minister's  table  and 
chair,,  elevated  about  six  inches ;  at  each  side  were  wall 
benches,  and  in  front  of  the  table,  the  general  congrega- 
tional accommodations ;  the  brethren  to  the  left  of  the 
minister,  and  the  sisters  on  his  right. 

THE    DEMOLITION   OF   THE   OLD    PARSONAGE. 

As  time  and  tide  wait  for  no  man,  so  American  enter- 


174  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

prise  spares  nothing.  We  compass  sea  and  land  in  search, 
of  antiquities,  but  destroy  our  own  the  very  moment  that 
they  ripen  to  that  dignity. 

This  venerable  pile  was  an  original  in  Philadelphia, 
dignified,  not  only  by  time,  but  by  its  services,  fraught 
with  characteristic  and  interesting  associations,  tributary 
as  well  to  the  life  of  imagination  as  to  its  more  happy 
source. 

"Young  America,"  yet  unborn,  and  even  unthought, 
was  anticipated  by  an  inkling  for  novelty,  whilst  the 
"march  of  improvement"  in  embryo,  was  courting  dis- 
cipline and  furtherance,  and,  not  unlike  the  youth  of  our 
day,  pressing  its  claims,  its  fancy,  and  its  wisdom,  spurned 
the  taste,  the.  judgment,  and  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers ; 
and  the  very  shadows  of  antiquity  must  be  absorbed  in 
the  glory  of  their  imagination.  But  so  it  was ;  and  even 
worse  now.  Still,  we  cannot  but  marvel  at  our  old-time 
predecessors,  for  yielding  the  precious  mementos  of  their 
own  times,  to  the  very  questionable  apologies  for  their 
aflections. 

"Whatever  may  have  been  the  inducement  for  such  old- 
time  folks  to  disrupt  the  precious  relic  of  their  own 
times,  bej'ond  the  impetus  of  modern  fancy,  is  hard  to 
say;  certain  it  is,  this  last  relic  of  Zinzendorff  and  his 
times,  in  Philadelphia,  this  convenient,  capacious,  com- 
fortable, respectable  legacy  of  their  fathers,  must  merge 
into  a  residuum  of  a  mere  apology  for  a  substitute. 

Alas !  alas  !  such  is  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  America  : 
but  doubtful  elsewhere  in  the  world  ! 

This  ancient  pile,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  every  con- 
temporaneous Moravian  in  Philadelphia,  the  relic  of  its 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  175 

adjunct  the  original  church — was,  for  a  season,  the 
bosom  of  its  more  immediate  sacerdotal  rites. 

It  was  the  mansion  of  the  "rites  of  hospitality — the 
home  of  the  missionary" — the  alma  mater  of  Christian 
benevolence  !  Religion  and  piety  dwelt  there  ;  mercy 
and  truth  met  there ;  and  there,  too,  righteousness  and 
peace  often  kissed  each  other. 

Spangenberg,  Nitchman,  Boehler,  and  the  host  of 
early  pioneers  in  the  wilderness  of  Sin,  met,  conferred, 
and  dispensed  their  spiritual  might  to  destroy  the 
schemes  and  devices  of  Satan. 

De  "VVatteville,  Loskiel,  Reichel,  and  Huefiel,  of  later 
times,  came  here  to  light  up  the  path  of  the  elders,  to 
rule  well  their  household  of  faith,  and  to  assist  them  in 
prayer  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  their  Zion  ! 

Dissensions  and  doubtful  disputations  were  arrested 
here,  and  the  atmosphere  of  its  portals  was  redolent  of 
harmony,  seeing  that  it  was  a  court  of  appeal  for  the 
settlement  of  error  or  misunderstanding  of  or  amongst 
the  members  of  the  flock. 

The  doctrine  of  mutual  forbearance  here  had  sway,  "  if 
any  man  had  a  quarrel  against  any;"  and  mutual  forgive- 
ness was  a  sine  qua  non  to  admission  to  the  next  succeed- 
ing communion  or  love-feast. 

The  goodly  pastor  was  the  arbiter,  and  a  godly  issue 
was  the  general  reward  of  his  labor  of  love. 

In  all  this  I  do  not  mean  to  idolize  the  temple  nor  its 
adjunct,  the  parsonage,  nor  yet  would  I  canonize  Mora- 
vians or  Moravianisms  at  any  period  of  their  existence  ; 
but  with  such  associations,  justice  to  their  manes  cannot 
reject  a  tribute  to  the  odor  that  even  yet  enriches  our 
atmosphere  of  the  incense  of  their  faith,  principles,  and 
practices,  as  it  arose  from  the  altar  of  their  hearts. 


176  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Renewal,  and  Change  of  Location. 

Solomon  has  said  that  time  and  chance  "  happeneth  to 
all  men,"  and  tliis,  for  several  years  past,  had  been  a 
hoped  for  desideratum  in  this  congregation. 

The  building  of  1819  was  not  only  very  inconvenient, 
but  was  thrown  into  obscurity  by  the  populous  exj)anse 
of  the  city,  so  that  the  West  knew  little  of  tlie  East, 
whilst  the  North  and  the  South  began  to  fringe  the  rural 
domains  of  the  city's  pride. 

The  escutclieons  of  the  tabernacle  had  lost  their  lustre, 
whilst  the  ruthless  hand  of  Time  wrestled  with  the  trea- 
sury, and  touched  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

Improvements  and  repairs  had  drawn  smartly  upon 
taste  and  ambition,  until  genius  and  invention  were  beg- 
gared by  the  want  of  material  for  their  exercise. 

The  congregation  had  increased,  and  the  rising  genera- 
tion claimed  the  privilege  of  enjoying  some  of  the  fasci- 
nations of  their  ouni  times. 

The  question,  therefore,  of  a  new  church,  and  a  more 
eligible  site,  was  long  and  elaborately  agitated,  before 
the  idea  settled  to  a  more  serious  and  decided  considera- 
tion. 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  reflection  matured,  and  the  con- 
gregation, in  due  form,  ordered  the  sale  of  the  old  pre- 


fis 

n 

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EC 

q 

l» 

n 

p' 

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c/; 

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o 

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1— 1 

05 

Oi 

05 

IN    PHILADELPHIA.  177 

mises,  together*  with  all  the  appurtenances,  and  further 
ordained,  that  a  new  church  edifice  should  be  built  upon 
a  new  site. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  look  out  for  a  lot,  and 
report. 

A  lot  on  Green  Street,  north  side,  below  Eleventh,  now 
occupied  as  a  Methodist  Church,  was  reported,  but 
declined  from  motives  of  economy,  prudence,  and  expe- 
diency ;  and  the  Burial-ground,  being  a  favorite  idea  for 
eligibility,  convenience,  and  practicability,  it  was  adopted 
as  the  site  for  the  new  church. 

One  year,  however,  elapsed  before  anything  like  an 
ofier  could  be  obtained  for  a  private  sale  of  the  old  pre- 
mises ;  and  the  congregation  growing  restive  under  the 
delay,  a  public  sale  was  ordered. 

On  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  March,  1854,  the  property 
was  put  up  for  public  sale  by  Moses  Thomas  &  Son,  at 
the  Exchange,  and  there  purchased,  by  Conrad  Grove,  for 
the  small  sum  of  $16,000,  who  sold  it  the  next  day,  or 
within  a  week,  to  Robert  jSTewlin,  brewer,  at  a  smart 
advance. 

The  lot  is  sixty  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  con- 
taining the  church  building  on  the  rear,  and  two  three- 
story  brick  dwellings  on  Race  Street. 

Considerable  delay  followed  these  preliminaries,  so  that 
preparations  for  a  commencement  of  the  enterprise  were 
protracted  till  the  spring  of  1855 ;  when,  according  to  a 
plan  and  architectural  drawing,  made  and  presented  to  the 
Building  Committee  by  Mr.  J.  A.  C.  Trautwine,  a 
member  of  the  church,  a  contract  was  made  with  Mr. 
John  McClure,  a  respectable  and  reliable  builder,  to 
carry  out  the  project. 

12 


178  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

The  Burial-ground  being  twenty-five  feet  short  of  the 
corner  of  Franklin  and  Wood,  and  that  spot  being 
already  occupied  by  a  three-story  brick  dwelling,  a  pur- 
chase was  absolutely  necessary  to  reach  and  establish  the 
desired  boundary  of  the  edifice. 

Peter  Marseiles,  awake  to  our  requirements  and  alive 
to  his  own,  demanded  the  full  sum  of  $7500  for  the  pre- 
mises, which  must  be  paid,  and  that  in  a  given  time,  or 
lose  the  site. 

This  sum  was,  therefore,  paid,  and  the  house  doomed 
to  destruction  in  the  contract  with  Mr.  McClure,  which 
stipulated  for  this  building,  and  $14,700. 

Preliminaries,  therefore,  being  at  an  end,  the  corner- 
stone was  laid  on  the  30th  day  of  April,  1855,  and  the 
edifice  consecrated  on  the  26th  of  January,  1856. 

The  Building  Committee  consisted  of  Abraham  Pitter, 
Francis  Jordan,  Jacob  E.  Hagert,  and  Charles  L.  Bute. 

The  corner-stone  was  laid  by  the  Pight  Pev.  Peter 
"Wolle,  a  Bishop  of  the  Church,  aided  by  the  im^tor  loci,  the 
Pev.  Edmund  A.  de  Schweinitz,  the  Brethren  Bahnsen, 
Shultz,  and  others  of  the  Moravian  Church,  besides  of 
our  sister  churches,  the  venerable  Dr.  Mayer  of  the 
English  Lutheran  Church  ;  the  Pev.  J.  Berg  and  Bam- 
bers:er  of  the  German  Reformed  Churches. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  179 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Change  of  Location — Descri^Jtion  of  the  New  Edifice — Organ. 

The  building  occupies  fifty-five  by  eighty  feet  of  tbe 
southwest  corner  of  Wood  and  Franklin  Streets,  a  passage 
of  about  six  feet  being  left  on  the  south  side,  convenient 
to  the  rear  door  of  the  church  from  Franklin  Street. 

The  lower  or  basement  floor  is  conveniently  arranged 
with  vestibule,  of  twelve  feet  in  depth,  opening  into  a 
lecture  and  Sunday-school  room,  of  about  fifty-three  feet 
square,  and  eleven  feet  in  height ;  in  the  rear  of  which  is 
the  minister's  room,  on  the  north  side,  and  on  the  south, 
an  apartment  for  "love-feast"  arrangements,  and  other 
appurtenant  conveniences  to  the  services  of  the  church  ; 
the  ascent  to  the  pulpit  being  also  from  the  minister's 
room. 

The  principal  audience  chamber  is  attained  by  an  open 
Newell  stairway  on  each  side  of  the  vestibule,  of  very 
easy  ascent,  and  sufficient  capacity  for  their  purpose. 

An  upper  vestibule  passes  the  congregation,  as  they 
enter  by  a  door  at  the  head  of  each  stairway,  into  this 
principal  accommodation  for  the  public  worship,  whose 
area  is  covered  with  eighty  pews,  without  doors,  of  suffi- 
cient dimensions  to  seat  five  hundred  persons  comforta- 
bly.    The  aisles  open  at  each  of  the  entrances,  and  con- 


180  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

sequently  give  a  middle  block  and  wall  pews,  but  no 
centre  aisle. 

The  pulpit  is  a  neat  elevation,  of  about  three  feet,  pro- 
tected at  either  side  by  a  fancy  screen  of  "gig-saw  work," 
and  immediately  behind  by  a  close  panelled  screen,  sup- 
ported at  each  end  by  heavy  bosses  of  gothic  fancy,  rising 
some  eight  or  ten  feet  from  the  stairway,  opening  upon 
the  pulpit's  platform. 

The  table  and  chair  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  for  commu- 
nion, baptismal,  and  reception  services,  surmount  a  plat- 
form of  six  inches  in  height,  but  are  not  enclosed  by 
screen  or  railing  of  any  sort. 

The  organ  gallery  in  front,  at  the  east  end  of  the  cham- 
ber, has  an  elevation  of  nine  feet,  and  in  architectural 
design  corresponds  in  fashion  with  the  protective  screen 
of  the  pulpit's  platform. 

These  two  ends  are  painted  and  grained  in  imitation 
of  walnut,  except  the  front  panel  on  the  pulpit,  which 
relieves  the  monotony,  by  the  very  appropriate  insignia 
of  a  "gloria,"  richly  gilt. 

The  ends  of  the  pews  are  painted  and  grained  in  imi- 
tation of  oak,  the  top  rail  and  arms,  however,  represent 
walnut. 

The  pews  are  lined,  stuffed,  cushioned,  and  carpeted, 
whilst  the  aisles,  the  pulpit  platform,  its  risers  at  each 
side,  and  the  elevation  below,  are  neatly  clad  in  Brussels 
and  ingrain,  of  taste  and  quality  much  to  the  credit  of 
their  patrons. 

The  gallery  supports  an  organ  of  dignity,  character, 
and  corresponding  architecture,  designed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  your  author,  and  executed  by  Mr.  Edmund  Durang 
as  architect,  and  Mr.  J.  C.  B.  Standbridge,  whose  skill, 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  181 

taste,  and  judgment  is  very  creditably  exemplified  in  its 
organic  details. 

Its  outer  dimensions  are  eighteen  feet  front,  eight  feet 
in  depth,  and  twenty-nine  feet  to  the  top  of  the  centre 
tower. 

Its  disposition  is  as  follows : 
Two  sets  of  keys  and  pedals. 
Great  organ,  compass,  C,  C,  to  F, 

1.  Open  Diapason,  metal, 

2.  Stopped     do.      wood, 

3.  Principal,  4  feet,  metal, 

4.  Melodeon,  4  feet,  metal, 

5.  Twelfth, 

6.  Fifteenth, 

7.  Seventeenth, 

8.  Nineteenth  and  Twenty-second, 

2  rank  sesquialtera, 

9.  Clarionet  to  tenor  T>, 

10.  Slide  for  a  trumpet. 

Swell  with  choir  bass. 

11.  Violin  to  4  feet  C,  metal, 

12.  Stopped  Diapason,  wood, 

13.  Principal,  metal, 

14.  Chimney-flute,        metal, 

15.  Fifteenth,  metal, 

16.  Two  rank  Cornet,  metal, 

17.  Trumpet,  metal, 

Pedal-compass,  C,  C,  C,  to  G,  20  keys. 

18.  Double  open  Diapason,  wood, 

16  feet  C,  to  8  feet  C,  13    " 

19.  Dulciana,  wood,  13    " 


54: 

keys. 

54 

pipes. 

54 

a 

54 

a 

42 

a 

54 

a 

54 

11 

54 

a 

108 

li 

40 

42  pipes. 

54 

54 

42 

42 

84 

42 

_     .qfif 

182  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

20.  Couples,  great  organ  and  swell. 
Registers.     21.  Couples,  pedal  and  great  organ. 

Pipes,     900. 

The  cost  of  this  instrument  was  $2000,  and  it  is  but 
justice  to  Mr.  Standbridge  to  acknowledge  bis  skill  and 
scientific  acumen  in  this  exuberance  of  bis  genius. 

The  silken  tones  of  the  stopped  Diapason,  the  proclivity 
of  his  imitations  to  the  orchestral  reed,  and  the  silvery 
rays  from  the  mystic  violin,  together  with  the  rich  bril- 
liancy of  the  lighter  elasticity  of  the  combination,  needs 
no  praise  beyond  their  own  utterance  ;  yet  "  honor  to 
whom  honor  is  due." 

The  front  pipes  are  beautifully  gilt,  and  the  case  painted 
and  grained*  to  correspond  with  the  pulpit  and  gallery 
front. 

The  architectural  design  of  the  church  edifice  is  of 
the  N"orman  order,  but  modernized  to  suit  the  present 
age.  Its  location  is  certainly  very  beautiful,  being  on 
the  summit  of  Franklin  Street,  open  to  Vine  Street,  and 
diagonally  to  the  Square  on  the  south — the  Burial-ground 
lying  between,  afibrding  light,  air,  and  accessibility,  as  far 
as  we  can  see,  for  all  time. 

The  disparity  between  the  early  and  the  latter  building 
being  an  evident  departure  from  the  pristine  order,  would 
seem  to  require  reconciliation.  Time  and  circumstance, 
however,  will  have  sway,  and  locomotion  neither  lags  nor 
limps. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Zinzendorffian  edifice, 
though  unostentatious,  was  large  and  imposing  for  its  day. 

His  society  consisted  of  thirty-four  members,  and  yet 

*  By  Wooldridge. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  183 

liis  building  would  accommodate  from  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  persons. 

The  second  building  was  but  a  slight  improvement  in 
form  and  feature,  sufficiently  attractive  for  its  generation, 
but  enlarged  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  its  day. 

The  rise  and  progress  of  the  congregation  having  kept 
full  pace  with  the  times,  and  the  developments  of  the 
spirit  of  the  age  being  epidemic  in  their  nature,  a  propi- 
tiatory sacrifice  to  the  outer  form  must  necessarily  be 
made,  to  gather  up  and  protect  the  "  inner  man ;"  and 
hence,  to  meet  the  views  of  the  ingathering,  a  suitable 
invitation  to  their  presence  was  as  laudable  as  it  was 
necessary  and  expedient;  but,  notwithstanding,  we  may 
say,  in  this  sense,  with  the  Apostle,  "  Though  our  outer 
man  has  perished,  our  inner  man  remains." 

Although  the  Church  does  not  approve  of  any  extra- 
vagance of  outlay  for  fancy  or  fashion  for  its  buildings, 
still  a  suitable  medium  to  the  altar  of  God  cannot  be 
deprecated ;  and  if  the  oflfering  is  not  made  by  us,  it  is  or 
will  be  by  others,  and  our  congregation  necessarily  scat- 
ters from  our  fold. 

Many  years  ago,  when  a  splendid  building  was  being 
^  put  up  for  the  Rev.  G.  T.  Bedell,  who  had  been  preach- 
ing in  a  byway,  and  who  was  "  mighty  in  word  and 
deed,"  and  yet  a  very  plain,  unassuming,  practical  Chris- 
tian brother,  I  asked  him  how  he  could  reconcile  such 
an  edifice  with  his  plain  views  of  humility  ?  His  reply 
was,  "  I  must  preach  where  people  will  come  to  hear 
me;  to  me  it  matters  not  where."  "We  therefore  offer 
necessity  for  expediency,  and  church  patriotism  as  an 
apology  for  the  disparity. 


184  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Succession — The  Ministry — Incorporation — Continued. 

The  pastorate  of  Brother  W.  H.  Yan  Vleck  was  filled 
at  Ills  recall,  in  1822,  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Renike,  who 
served  one  year,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John 
G.  Herman,  who  served  until  1826,  when  he  being  called 
to  Lancaster,  Brother  Peter  Wolle  assumed  the  charge 
until  1836 ;  thence  to  1842,  Brother  David  Bigler,  a  mis- 
sionary from  Antigua;  thence  by  Brother  Henry  A. 
Schults,  Sept.  1, 1842,  to  June,  1844,  and  ad  iiiterhn,  Bro- 
ther Wm.  H.  Benade,  until  Xovember  of  the  same  year. 

The  regular  oiRcial  appointment  of  Brother  Emanuel 
Rondthaler  supplied  the  church  from  Xovcmber,  1844, 
until  his  demise,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1848,  when 
another  ad  interim  appointment  of  Brother  Edward 
Reichel  linked  the  succession  from  December,  1848,  to 
April,  1849,  when  it  was  regularly  continued  under 
charge  of  Brother  Edward  Rondthaler,  a  brother  of  the 
deceased  Emanuel,  until  August,  1853. 

Brother  Edmund  A.  De  Schweinitz,  the  j^resent  pastor, 
accepted  the  call  and  appointment  to  the  pastorate  in 
August,  1853,  vacated  by  an  appointment  elsewhere  of 
his  predecessor. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  185 


THE    STANDING   COMMITTEE. 


Of  this  body,  vacancies  had  "been  and  were  yet  filled 
as  they  occurred,  by  death  or  otherwise. 

The  last  of  this  custom  under  the  old  regime  was  as 
before  stated. 

1818.  Thomas  C.  Lueders,  in  place  of  Benjamin  Lyn- 
dall,  deceased,  and  thus  continued. 

1821.  Adam  !N"eiss,  in  place  of  Brother  Jacob  Frank, 
deceased. 

1822.  Joseph  Lyndall,  in  place  of  Adam  ISTeiss,  expelled. 
1825.  John  W.  Peter  and  George  Esler,  in  place  of 

Godfrey  Haga,  and  Joseph  Lyndall,  deceased. 

1830.  Abraham  Klewel,  in  place  of  J.  W.  Peter,  de- 
ceased. 

1834.  A  general  election  produced  the  following  result, 
for  three  years'  service  : 

Brother  John  Jordan,  Thos.  C.  Lueders, 

John  Binns,  Charles  L.  Bute, 

Valentine  Hent,  Abraham  Rittcr. 

1837.  Brother  Hent  declined  re-election,  and  the  fol- 
lowing brethren  were  duly  elected  : 

John  Jordan,  John  Binns, 

Thomas  C.  Lueders,  Charles  L.  Bute, 

Charles  "Williams,  Abraham  Bitter. 

1840.     John  Binns,  Abraham  Bitter, 

Chas.  L.  Bute,        Valentine  Hent, 
"Wm.  Boiler,  Chas.  Williams. 

1843.     John  Bimms,  Valentine  Hent, 

Joseph  Cake,  Abraham  Bitter, 

Wm.  Boiler,  Thos.  W.  Jones. 


18G  HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

1846.     George  Esler,  Wm.  Boiler, 

John  Binns,  Freclk.  "VVilhelm, 

A.  B.  Renshaw,       Alex.  Leimer. 
Brother  W.  Boiler  having   deceased  in   the   interim, 
Brother  T.W.  Jones  was  again  called  in  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

1849.     A.  B.  Renshaw,      T.  W.  Jones, 

Philip  A.  Cregar,    Chas.  "Williams, 
Alex.  Smith,  Fredk.  Bourquiu. 

1852.     A.  B.  Renshaw,      T.  W.  Jones, 

P.  A.  Cregar,  Francis  Jordan, 

F.  Bourquin,  Abraham  Ritter. 

1855.     Francis  Jordan,      Abraham  Ritter, 
A.  B.  Renshaw,      P.  A.  Cregar, 
C.  M.  S.  Leslie,      C.  L.  Bute. 
But  C.  M.  S.  Leslie  having  declined  service,  and  Brother 
Charles  Williams  being  the  next  highest  on  the  ticket, 
was  constituted  a  member  in  his  place. 

THE    INCORPORATION. 

Up  to  the  year  1847,  the  Moravian  Church,  in  Phila- 
delphia, knew  no  need  of  incorporation  ;  it  had  nothing 
to  lend,  and  no  imperious  necessity  to  borrow ;  it  had  no 
need  to  plead,  and  gave  no  cause  to  be  impleaded. 
*  She  had  never  run  into  the  jaws  of  the  law  ;  nor  had 
the  law  ever  known  of  its  being. 

As  a  missionary  circle,  it  was  respected  and  protected 
by  friend  or  foe — if  any  it  had  of  the  latter. 

Notwithstanding,  the  Standing  Committee  of  1847 
deemed  it  wise  to  have  the  act,  and  they  obtained  it ; 
having  the  future  ruling  body,  heretofore  called  "  Com- 
mittee," denominated  "Elders,"  so  that  from  1847  to 
1855,  and  further,  they  are,  and  are  to  be  called  "  Elders." 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  187 


STEWARDS. 


The  stewardsliip  was  continued  successively  as  follows : 
Brother  John  Jordan  was  succeeded  by 
"  Thos.  C.  Lueders,  1836-1838. 
"  Chas.  L.  Bute,  1838-1842. 
"  Valentine  Ilent,  1842-1845. 
"  Thos.  W.  Jones,  1845-1846. 
"        Fredk.  Wilhelm,      1846-1849. 

SECRETARIES. 

1825-1833.  Henry  J.  Boiler,  in  place  of  J.  W.  Peters. 
1833-1836.  John  P.  Binns,  "      Henry  J.  Boiler, 

resigned. 
1836-1840.  Abraham  Ritter,       "         John  P.  Binns, 

resigned. 
1840-1847,  Wm.  Boiler,  *'        Abraham  Ritter, 

resigned. 

TREASURERS    OF    SUSTENTATION   ACCOUNT. 

Brother  John  Binns,  1834-1846. 

"       .  Fredk.  Wilhelm,  1846-1849, 

"        A.  B,  Eenshaw,  1849-1852, 

"        Francis  Jordan,  1852  to  date  and 
onwards. 

COLLECTORS    OF    SUSTENTATION   FUND. 

Brother  Jacob  Ritter,  Sen.,  was  succeeded  by 
"        Joseph  Lyndall,  1823-1824, 

"        Abrm.  Ritter,  1824-1828. 

»        John  W,  Peters,  1828-1830. 


188  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Brother  Tliomas  C.  Lueders  and  i 

u      n       T^,  h  1830-1832. 

"       Geo.  Esler,  j 

"  V.  Hent  place  of  T.  C.  Lueders,  1834-1836. 

"  J.  P.  Biiins     "     G.  Esler,  1834-1836. 

"  Wm.  Boiler  vice  V.  Ilent,  1836-1839. 

"  Geo.  Ritter  alone,  1839-1842. 

"  Geo.  Esler,  1842. 

ALMONERS. 

Abraham  Eitter,  vice 

Wm.  Gerhard,  1836-1846. 

F.  Wilhelm,  1846-1849. 

A.  B.  Renshaw,  1849-1852. 

Abrm.  Hitter,  1852  to  date. 

ORGANISTS. 

This  office  was  filled  alternately,  from  1844  to  1856,  by 
the  brethren : 

Jacob  Boiler,  Andrew  G.  Kern,  Jr., 

C.  B.  Senseman,  Abrm.  Eitter, 

Fred'k  Wilhelm  and  his  very  efficient  daughter.  Miss 
Mary  "Wilhelm ;  but  finally,  falls  again,  Feb. 
1856,  into  the  incumbency  of  Abraham  Eitter. 

CHAPEL    SERVANTS. 

Under  the  old  system,  including  the  services  of  Zacha- 
riah  Poulson,  this  and  all  the  other  sub-offices  were  with- 
out fee  or  reward ;  but  the  new  church  of  1819  called 
for  more  attention,  and  the  gratuitous  "housemaid" 
having  passed  this  for  a  less  onerous  ordeal,  regular 
appointments  became  necessary,  though,  even  then,  at  a 
mere  compensatory  stipend  for  outlay. 


IN    PpiLADELnilA.  189 

Adam  ISTeiss  served  for  one  year,  but  being  expelled  in 
the  same  year,  1820, 

Brother  G.  Eitter  accepted  the  ofB.ce,  at  $60  per  annum, 
and  served  from  1820  to  1832. 

Brother  Samuel  Cregar  succeeded  him,  and  served 
from  1832  to  1839. 

Brother  Alexander  Smith,  1839-1841. 
"  Anthony  Keyser,  1841-1844. 
"        Samuel  Cregar,  1844-184T. 

"        Frederick  Wilhelm,  1847- 
"        Anthony  Keyser,  to  date. 

SUPERINTENDENT    OF   THE   BURIAL-GROUND. 

Brother  J.  Ritter,  Jr.,  was  succeeded  by 
George  Ritter,  1836-1849,  and  he  by 
Frederick  Bourquin,  1849-1855,  and  by 
George  "W.  Ritter,  1855  to  date. 

Unimportant  as  this  detail  may  seem  to  the  common 
reader,  it  still  belongs  to  the  history  of  the  Church,  and 
serves  to  show,  from  first  to  last,  its  humble  and  unas- 
piring temperament,  carrying  out  our  Saviour's  injunc- 
tion, "  He  that  is  greatest  among  you,  let  him  be  as  the 
younger,  and  he  that  is  chief,  as  he  that  doth  sei've." 
Luke,  chap.  22,  verse  26  ;  besides  the  tribute  of  perpetuity 
of  the  memory  of  some  very  excellent  brethren  of  the 
Church. 

The  history  of  the  Church,  from  its  foundation  in 
Philadelphia,  is  thus  comprised ;  derived  from  authentic 
sources,  collateral  evidences,  early  and  continuous  asso- 
ciations, official  duties,  and  very  reliable  tradition. 

It  is  by  no  means  offered  as  a  vain  show  of  temporal 


190  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH,    ETC. 

prosperity ;  but  as  the  happy  issue  of  a  "  faithful  con- 
tinuance  in  well-doing."  "Paul  planted  and  Apollos 
watered,  but  God  gave  the  increase,"  and  to  Him,  the 
Triune  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  we  will  "render 
the  calves  of  our  lips,"  in  the  ascription  of  the  Psalmist : 
"!N^ot  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name 
give  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  for  thy  truth's  sake." 
Amen.     (Hosea  14  :  2  ;  Psalm  115  : 1.) 


EIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OF    SEVERAL    OF    THE 


EARLY   BISHOPS    OF    THE    CHrRCH. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  EPISCOPACY. 

Notwithstanding  the  proposed  limits  of  my  history, 
the  mere  name  of  an  Episcopate  would  seem  to  fall  short 
of  evidence  of  her  prelatical  claims. 

A  general  history  of  the  Church  was  not  my  purpose, 
but  the  American,  and  more  particularly  the  Philadelphia 
portion  of  the  general  tom&  of  Moravianism,  though  but 
a  mere  paragraph  of  her  extensive  volume,  can  only  be 
properly  acknowledged  by  a  proper  and  an  authentic 
ecclesiastical  representation. 

To  this  end,  I  present  the  following  sketches  and  por- 
traits of  some  of  their  worthy  subjects,  as  well  as  to  light 
up  the  paths  of  our  fathers  to  our  own  view,  to  confirm 
our  acknowledgment  of  their  authority,  and  to  enjoy  the 
happy  association  in  our  claims  upon  their  right  hand 
"of  fellowship,  not  in  vanity  nor  vainglory,  nor  to  cover 
our  weakness  with  their  strength,  but  if  by  any  means 
we  may  "  stand  in  the  ways,  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old 
paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein"  (Jer. 
6  :  16) ;  and  may  the  Lord  grant  us  grace,  to  hearken  to 
this  sound  of  his  trumpet. 

13 


194  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


BISHOP  JOHN  AMOS  COMENIUS. 

John  Amos  Comenius  was  born  at  Konma,  in  Moravia, 
on  tlie  28th  of  March,  1592,  and  at  a  very  early  period  of 
his  life  devoted  himself  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  in 
the  Brethren's  Church. 

Banished  in  1627  (with  other  Protestants),  he  fled  to 
Poland,  and  settled  at  Lissa,  where,  at  a  synod,  in  1632, 
he  was  consecrated  a  Bishop  of  the  Bohemian  and  Mora- 
vian branch  of  the  Brethren's  Church,  and  thus  became 
the  connecting  link  of  the  episcopacy,  from  the  ancient  to 
the  renewed  Church  of  his  adoption. 

Reliable  history  sets  him  forth  as  a  man  of  extensive 
erudition,  an  accomplished  linguist,  a  practical  self-sacri- 
ficing Christian,  and  a  large  contributor  to  the  Christian 
Bibliotheque. 

In  1649,  he  published  a  history  of  the  Brethren's 
Church,  with  an  appendix,  dedicating  the  work,  as  his 
last  will  and  testament,  to  the  Church  of  England,  asking 
her  protection,  preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  Brethren's  Church,  if  she  should  survive 
her  then  low  estate.     Saying, 

"  Should  it  please  God  at  a  future  period  to  educe  good 
from  our  present  affliction,  and,  according  to  his  promise, 
make  Christendom  (after  receiving  wholesome  correction), 
instrumental  in  propagating  the  Gospel  among  other 
nations,  and  do  with  us  as  he  did  with  the  Jews,  cause 
our  fall  to  be  the  riches  of  the  world,  and  our  diminishing 


J0H:\^   AMOS    COMENILTS. 

Episcopus. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  195 

the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  we,  in  that  case,  commend  to 
you,  the  English  Church,  our  beloved  mother,  the  Breth- 
ren's Church,  that  you  may  take  care  of  her,  whatever  it 
may  please  God  to  do  with  her,  whether  to  restore  her  in 
her  native  land,  or  when  deceased  there,  revive  her  else- 
where. 

"  Thus  did  God  of  old ;  for  when  he  removed  his  ungrate- 
ful people  from  their  country,  and  laid  waste  their  city 
and  temple,  he  did  not  suffer  the  basis  of  the  altar  to  be 
destroyed,  that  after  the  return  of  his  people  from  cap- 
tivity, their  successors  might  rebuild  the  temple  on  its 
former  foundation,"  &;c.  &c.     And  closing  thus  : 

"Into  your  hands,  therefore,  we  commit  this  precious 
deposit,  and  thus,  by  your  care,  make  provision  for  pos- 
terity." 

The  above  work  was  written  in  Latin,  and  republished 
in  English,  in  London,  in  1661. 

This  venerable  prelate  and  energetic  patron  of  the 
Church,  departed  this  life,  on  the  15th  of  October,  1672, 
aged  eighty  years  ;  a  volume  in  himself  of  faith  and  good 
works. 


196  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAYIAX    CHURCH 


JOHN  DE  WATTEVILLE,  EPISCOPTJS. 

"  I  DETERMINED  to  kiiow  notliiiig  amoDgst  you  save 
Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified." 

In  this  spirit  came  forth  from  the  University  of  Jena, 
this  disciple  of  theology,  for  the  growth  and  increase  of 
the  ministry  in  the  Brethren's  Church,  whose  talents, 
developed  through  a  liheral  education  and  fervent  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  Christianity,  furthered  him  to  the  Episco- 
pacy. 

He  was  not  of  noble  birth,  but  the  son  of  the  Rev. 
John  Michael  Langguth,  a  Lutheran  minister,  of  "Wels- 
leben,  in  Thuringia,  and  born  on  the  18th  of  October, 
1718. 

As  preceptor  of  a  son  of  Count  Zinzendorfii',  he  enjoyed 
the  approbation  of  the  Father,  and  through  a  growing 
mutual  interest  and  confidence  became  a  convert,  in  1737, 
to  the  principles  and  doctrines  of  Count  Zinzendorff's 
adoption,  and  so  early  as  1739  took  the  general  superin- 
tendence of  the  several  institutions  of  the  Church,  during 
his  absence  from  Herrnhuth  and  visit  to  the  settlements 
in  the  "West  India  Islands,  besides  the  secretaryship  of 
the  Synods  at  Gotha  and  Marienborn,  of  1740. 

In  1744,  he  was  appointed  assistant  to  the  Count  in  his 
ecclesiological  duties,  or  chief  ofiicial  in  the  Church. 

The  Baron  Frederick  Von  Watteville,  his  senior  in  the 
Church,  propitious  to  his  character,  moral  and  religious, 
adopted  him  in  this  year,  and  endowed  him  with  his 
titles. 


'm% 


JOHN  DE    WATTEVILLE^ 

Episcopxis. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  197 

Clad,  however,  in  the  spirit  of  humility,  he  was  in  no- 
wise inflated  by  this  honor,  and  his  ambition  for  title 
was  acceptably  merged  in  the  familiar  term  of  "  Brother 
Johannes,"  which  he  preferred,  and  to  which  he  an- 
swered through  life,  a  custom  prevalent  in  that  circle 
of  that  day.  Zinzendorff,  also,  was  familiarly  called 
"Brother  Ludwig  ;"  Spangenberg,  "  Brother  Joseph." 

In  1746,  he  became  son-in-law  to  the  Count  by  mar- 
riage with  his  eldest  daughter,  Henrietta  Justina  Benigna, 
and  in  1747,  was  consecrated  a  Bishop  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrii. 

His  duties  were  increased  by  obligatory  visits  to  his 
churches  and  missionary  stations  in  the  very  opposite 
directions  of  their  various  locations,  and  the  Danish  West 
Indies,  Pennsylvania,  England,  Ireland,  Holland,  Green- 
land, by  visits  and  revisits,  made  him  a  stranger  to  his 
proper  home — Ilerrnhuth ;  until  the  death  of  Zinzendorff, 
in  1760,  required  his  substitution  there. 

Available  at  all  points,  he  was  elected,  in  1764,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Directory,  afterwards  called  the  "Unity's 
Elder's  Conference,"  the  authority  of  the  Church,  which 
seat  he  held  during  the  balance  of  his  life. 

In  September,  1783,  he  was  deputed  to  visit  the  con- 
gregations in  E"orth  America,  and  set  sail  in  that  month, 
but  when  in  sight  of  land,  January,  1784,  the  ship,  blown 
off  by  the  charge  of  wintry  blasts,  was  compelled  to  run 
for  the  West  India  Islands,  and  here,  again,*  the  cliffs  of 
the  Island  of  Barbadoes  arrested  their  escape  from  their 
recent  perils,  and  wrecked  them  beyond  alternative,  ex- 
cept open  boats,  which,  under  God,  saved  him,  his  wife, 

"*  On  the  night  of  February  16,  1784,  a  voyage  of  five  months  from  the 
Texel  to  America. 


198  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

and  other  bretliren  and  sisters,  together  with  the  ship's 
crew,  after  a  further  toil  and  peril  of  seven  hours. 

"With  grateful  considerations  for  the  Governor  of  the 
Island,  whose  kindly  care  and  furtherance  of  these  ser- 
vants of  God  justly  entitles  him  to  this  memorabilia,  I 
pass  our  venerable  Bishop,  and  his  consort,  to  Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania,  his  place  of  destination  ;  where,  in  June, 
1784,  he  again  "  fed"  the  flock  of  God,  "taking  the  over- 
sight, not  by  constraint,  but  willingly"  (1  Peter  5  :  2), 
and  amongst  the  pleasing  reminiscences  of  the  Church  in 
Philadelphia,  its  organization  in  1785,  the  Apostolic 
salutation  to  "love  one  another,"  and  his  benediction, 
there  can  be  none  more  interesting,  more  continuous,  nor 
more  animating,  than  a  review  of  the  ministration  of 
"Brother  Johannes,"  this  venerable,  plain,  unvarnished 
prelate,  breathing  the  virtues  of  Christianity  from  the 
Mount  Sinai  of  the  Ancient  Church  of  our  Philadelphia. 

A  three  years*  sojourn  in  America  terminated  his  event- 
ful and  useful  services  from  home.  In  June,  1787,  he 
embarked  for  his  final  rest ;  and,  after  another  year's  ser- 
vices in  the  Church,  at  Herrnhuth,  was  called  to  his 
reward,  on  the  7th  October,  1788,  being  69  years  of  age, 
save  11  days. 

The  reputation  of  Bishop  Von  "Watteville  is  that  of  an 
"  intelligent,  experienced,  discreet,  and  faithful  servant 
of  Christ."  A  man  whose  fortitude  never  forsook  him, 
and  whose  industry  never  tired. 

Humility  in  him  was  the  parent  of  affability,  and 
merged  the  dignity  of  his  Episcopate  in  the  current  and 
familiar  associations  with  the  flocks  of  his  pastorate ;  and 
his  prayer  was  ever  and  anon,  "  !N"ot  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not 
unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  be  all  the  glory." 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  199 

Practical  in  precept  and  example,  he  won  the  confi- 
dence of  his  people,  and  reached  their  weaknesses  by  the 
chastened  disciplining  of  his  own. 

But  it  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  eulogize  the  man,  or 
prejudice  his  memory,  by  an  array  of  his  virtues,  but 
rather  centre  the  memoir  in  the  breathings  of  his  own 
soul,  and  let  the  words  of  his  own  mouth,  and  the  medi- 
tations of  his  own  heart,  sculpture  his  epitaph  on  the 
tablet  of  Time,  in  St.  Paul's  inscription,  "By  the  grace 
of  God,  I  am  what  I  am."   (1  Cor.  15  :  10.) 


200  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


AUGUST  GOTTLIEB  SPANGENBERG,  EPISCOPUS. 

This  eminent  divine,  patron,  and  early  father  in  God, 
of  the  renewed  Brethren's  Church,  was  as  world-wide 
known  in  his  day,  as  his  labors  have  since  been  blest  to 
the  various  fields  of  his  operations.  He,  also,  was  the 
son  of  a  Lutheran  minister,  of  Klettenburg,  Prussia, 
where  he  was  born,  on  the  15th  of  July,  1704.  He  stu- 
died theology  at  the  University  of  Jena,  of  which  he  after- 
wards became  a  Professor,  as  well  as  that  of  Halle.  Here 
he  became  acquainted  with  Count  Zinzendorif;  their 
kindred  spirits  blended,  and  unitedly  strove  for  channels 
in  which  the  softening  influences  of  religion  would  flow 
to  the  rigid  climes  of  such  as  were  "sitting  in  darkness." 

In  1733,  he  joined  Zinzendorff  at  Herrnhuth,  and  soon 
became  his  adjunct  in  his  views  and  plans  for  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel. 

From  1735  to  1744,  Copenhagen,  London,  Georgia,  and 
Pennsylvania,  were  beneficiaries  of  his  labors  of  love. 

Li  1744,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  the  Brethren's 
Church;*  and,  as  such,  came  to  America,  and  took  up 
his  residence,  on  the  30th  of  November  of  that  year,  in 
Bethlehem. 

Here,  like  St.  Paul,  he  had  the  "care  of  all  the  churches," 
and  gave  himself  to  their  supervision,  whether  afar  off,  or 

*  By  Bishop  Zinzendorfif  and  Bishop  F.  de  Watteville,  Vicar-General  of 
the  three  Tropics,  in  puncto  ordinationis,  first  Bishop  of  the  English  Colo- 
nies. 


plSC'.ipUS. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  201 

near  at  hand.  Wachovia,  in  N.  C,  Philadelphia,  Lan- 
caster, Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  Litiz,  in  Pennsylvania, 
were  all  tenants  of  the  shadow  of  his  wing ;  and  nursed, 
nurtured,  and  fructified  by  the  influence  of  the  divinity 
within  ;  whilst  his  friendly  hand  and  benign  countenance 
at  Indian  councils  in  the  South  and  "West,  won  their  con- 
fidence in  the  wisdom  of  his  head,  as  well  as  in  the  truth 
of  his  heart,  as  it  spent  its  holy  burden  at  his  lips. 

His  visits  to  these  extreme  stations  were  neither  pon- 
dered nor  deferred,  for  their  threats  of  labor,  sorrows,  or 
difiiculty.  The  fruit  was  at  the  extreme  of  the  branches, 
and  he  sought  to  nurture  it  to  ripeness,  before  it  should 
fall. 

A  call  to  a  spiritual  charge  in  London  deprived  the 
American  churches  of  his  services  in  1749 ;  but,  in  1751, 
he  returned,  and  gladdened  the  hearts  of  his  flocks,  as  for 
and  during  eleven  years  of  further  sympathy,  he  lit  up 
their  path  in  their  council,  their  sanctuary,  and  their  social 
intercourse. 

In  1762,  therefore,  he  took  a  final  leave  of  America, 
passing  through  Philadelphia,  leaving  a  lasting  blessing 
upon  his  church,  by  his  "  savor  of  life  unto  life,"  which 
had  so  often  and  so  richly  bedewed  the  atmosphere  of  his 
spiritual  operations. 

Herrnhuth  claimed  him,  and  now  enjoyed  his  "faithful 
continuance  in  well-doing"  at  their  council  board,  where, 
as  a  leading  member  of  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference — 
the  highest  authority  of  the  Church, — he  shared  his 
mental  gifts,  as  well  in  temporal  as  in  spiritual  neces- 
sities, for  thirty  years. 

Endowed  with  natural  energy  of  mind,  his  liberal  edu 
cation,  guarded   and  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  per- 


202  HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

fected  his  usefulness  at  every  point  of  his  varied  duties, 
whilst  his  unwavering  faith  in  the  power  of  God,  and  the 
truth  of  his  word,  was  ever  and  anon  the  security  of  the 
boon  of  his  lips,  of  which,  however,  I  refer  the  reader  to 
the  "Life  of  Spangenberg,"  by  Ledderhose. 

He  was  not  only  professionally  the  coadjutor  of  Zin- 
zendorff,  but  socially,  his  bosom  friend :  not  blind  to  his 
faults,  but  of  fervent  charity,  and  a  qualifying  medium  to 
any  impetuosity  that  might  escape  his  (Zinzendorff's) 
better  judgment. 

As  the  author  of  the  "Life  of  Zinzendorff,"  he  exhibits 
the  virtues  of  his  Christian  profession,  in  the  candid  and 
impartial  details  of  his  life. 

In  this  connection,  Latrobe,  in  his  preface  to  the  above 
work,  thus  speaks  of  him : 

"  An  individual  more  competent  to  the  task,  and  alto- 
gether more  worthy  to  execute  it,  could  certainly  not  have 
been  selected. 

"  With  the  exception  of  Zinzendorfi'  himself,  no  name 
is  more  distinguished  than  that  of  Spangenberg  in  the 
records  of  the  renewed  Brethren's  Church,  and  none 
more  highly  reverenced  by  its  members.  He  was  indeed 
a  man  of  primitive  piety  and  patriarchal  simplicity,  of 
extensive  erudition,  of  unwearied  diligence,  and  of  unim- 
peachable veracity. 

"  The  soundness  and  sobriety  of  his  theological  views 
are  sufficiently  proved  by  his  well-known  '  Exposition  of 
Christian  Doctrine,'  and  the  variety  and  extent  of  his 
experience  as  a  laborer  in  the  vineyard  of  his  Master, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  by  his  valuable  tracts  on  sub- 
jects connected  with  the  missionary  calling;  whilst  the 
annals  of  the  Brethren's  Unity,  during  a  period  of  nearly 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  203 

sixty  years,  have  abundant  testimony  to  the  blessing 
vouchsafed  to  his  truly  apostolic  labors." 

His  talents  were  not  limited  in  his  pen ;  the  pulpit 
heralded  his  eloquence,  and  the  people  fed  richly  upon  its 
fare,  yet  humility  was  his  safeguard  against  flattery,  and 
that  charity  that  "  vaunteth  not  itself,  ia  not  puffed  up, 
and  seeketh  not  her  own,"  presented  its  defensive  shield 
against  the  influence  of  any  suggestion  of  the  natural 
man. 

For  a  more  familiar  address,  he  chose  the  name 
"Joseph,"  and  "  Brother  Joseph"  was  the  facile  avenue  to 
his  notice,  and  "right  hand  of  fellowship,"  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  life. 

But  it  is  neither  my  province,  my  power,  nor  my  pro- 
mise, to  fill  a  biography  of  the  characters  before  me.  I 
merely  call  up  their  manes,  and  present  them  as  amongst 
the  pious  and  untiring  fathers  of  our  Church. 

Bishop  Spangenberg  slept  with  his  fathers,  on  the  18th 
day  of  September,  1792,  and  his  remains  were  deposited, 
on  the  23d,  in  the  burial-ground  of  the  United  Brethren 
Congregation,  at  Herrnhuth,  in  his  89th  year. 


204  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


PETER  BOEHLER,  EPISCOPUS. 

"  Let  a  man  so  account  of  us  as  of  the  ministers  of  Christ, 
and  steAvards  of  the  mysteries  of  God"  (1  Cor.  4:1); 
and,  as  such,  we  are  happy  to  account  also  for  this  reve- 
rend brother. 

Amongst  the  most  vigorous  servants  of  the  Brethren's 
Church,  we  find  this  practical  Brother  Boehler,  who,  in 
addition  to  his  piety,  was  rendered  more  variously  avail- 
able for  the  -work  before  him,  by  a  thorough  education, 
logical  and  theological,  in  the  University  at  Jena,  a  town 
of  Saxe  "Weimar.* 

His  acquaintance  with  Count  Zinzendorff  began  here ; 
and  their  frequent  intercourse  won  his  affections,  not  only 
to  the  Count,  but  to  his  Church. 

Conversant  with  its  principles,  and  observant  of  the 
purity  and  zeal  of  its  members,  he  enlisted  under  its 
banner,  put  on  "  the  whole  armor  of  God,"  and  went 
forth  to  the  work. 

Already,  in  1734,  when  but  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
and  the  tenth  of  the  renewal  of  the  Church,  we  find  him 
preaching  in  London ;  and  forming  and  fostering  a 
Brethren's  Society,  in  Gracehall,  now  Fulnec,  the  wedge 
of  Moravianism  in  that  quarter. 

In  1735,  he  is  the  companion  of  Bishop  Spangenberg, 
and  the  Reverends  John  and  Charles  "Wesley,  to  Georgia, 

*  He  was  born,  Dec.  31st,  1712,  in  Frankfort  on  the  Maine. 


PETRUS    BOEHLER. 

Episcopus.. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.        .  205 

in  !N"ortli  America,  where  lie  also  spread  the  Lord's  table. 
His  acquaintance  here  with  the  Wesley s  warmed  to  an 
interesting  intimacy;  so  that  in  1738,  on  his  return  to 
London,  their  associations  included  the  Rev.  George 
Whitfield  there ;  and  a  profitable  intercourse  ensued. 
Differences  of  opinion,  however,  not  so  much  doctrinal  as 
dogmatical,  divided  their  views.  From  this  difference 
grew  the  powerful  and  thrifty  Methodist  Church,  a  happy 
issue  to  the  world,  for  they  too  are  a  good  and  a  godly 
people. 

The  Latin  tongue  must  have  been  more  familiar  than 
his  own  vernacular,  German,  since  he  preached  and 
prayed  in  that  language,  which  was  rendered  into  English 
afterwards,  by  the  Rev.  John  Gambold,  of  the  English 
Church,  wdio  subsequently  joined  the  Brethren's  Church, 
became  eminent  in  divinity,  and  was  furthered  to  the 
Episcopacy  of  that  Church. 

In  1746,  Zinzendorff  left  him  in  charge  of  the  affairs  in 
Herrnhuth,  during  his  sojourn  elsewhere.  And  in  1748, 
he,  too,  was  added  to  the  Episcopate. 

In  1756  to  1760,  he  was  assistant  to  Bishop  Spangen- 
berg,  in  his  supervision  of  the  North  American  churches, 
and  resided  in  Bethlehem,  Pa,,  where  he  was  identified 
with  and  much  beloved  by  his  people.  In  1764,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Directory,  or  Unity's  Eldere' 
Conference,  sitting  in  Herrnhuth ;  but  continued  his  labors 
in  Bethlehem  until  1774,  when  he  retired  to  Herrnhuth ; 
and  there,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1775,  departed  this  life, 
in  the  63d  year  of  his  age. 

Bishop  Boehler  was  evidently  a  man  of  talent,  avail- 
able in  his  aptness  to  teach.  His  oratorical  powers  were 
beyond  mediocrity,  but  were  never  drawn  upon  to  smother 


206  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

the  burden  of  bis  beart,  whence  sprang  the  endeavor  to 
"persuade  men."  His  ministration,  therefore,  was  accept- 
able everywhere,  and  at  all  times;  and  his  godliness  "pro- 
fitable unto  all  things." 

His  memory  still  floats  on  the  atmosphere  of  Beth- 
lehem and  Nazareth,  whilst  the  life  of  his  character  is  yet 
in  our  ear,  from  the  lips  of  those  whose  immediate  em- 
brace knew  and  felt  from  him  what  it  was  to  be  "  kindly 
affectioned  one  to  another."  "We,  therefore,  pass  Im 
manes  to  the  respectful  remembrance  of  the  Christian 
world  as  a  faithful  "  minister  of  Christ,"  and  according 
to  the  requirement  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy,  1 :  3,  7,  "A 
man  of  good  report  from  them  that  are  without." 


JOHS   LEONHARD    DOBER. 

Episcopus. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  207 


LEONARD  DOBER,  EPISCOPUS. 

"  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  hast  thou 
ordained  strength."     (Ps.  8  :  2.) 

At  the  coronation  of  Christian  YI,  of  Denmark,  in 
1731,  Count  ZinzendorfF  being  a  guest  in  Copenhagen, 
he  was  called  to  baptize  a  negro  into  the  Christian  faith. 

This  convert,  Anton,  or  Anthony,  enlisted  the  sym- 
pathies of  Zinzendorff  for  his  heathen  brethren  in  St. 
Thomas,  where  he  had  a  sister,  whose  enlightenment  and 
salvation  he  was  even  then  sorrowing  for  "  after  a  godly 
sort." 

Immediately  on  his  return  to  Herrnhuth,  Zinzendorff 
made  known  this  want  to  the  congregation.  Fired  with 
holy  zeal,  Leonard  Dober  and  Tobias  Leupold,  two 
spirited  youths  of  the  congregation,  bosom  friends,  con- 
ceived, each  for  himself,  a  missionary  spirit ;  nor  did  they 
open  their  minds  to  each  other  until  the  next  day,  when 
mutual  surprise  warmed  their  zeal  to  an  immediate  offer 
of  their  services. 

Difficulties  were  pictured  and  obstacles  multiplied 
before  them,  and  even  Anton,  who  was  then  in  Herrn- 
huth, thought  a  breach  in  the  bulwark  impracticable, 
without  becoming  and  working  with  the  negroes  as 
"slaves,"  the  severity  of  whose  duties,  by  day  and  by 
night,  he  fully  set  forth. 

Nothing  daunted,  they  accepted  the  terms,  and  urged 
their  desire,  until  finally  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 


208  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

tlicm,  throngh  the  lot,  "Lasset  den  knaben  zielien  der 
Ilerr  ist  mit  ilim."  "Let  the  youth  go,  for  the  Lord  is 
with  him." 

Leupold,  however,  was  detained,  and  David  Mtchman 
appointed  in  his  stead. 

On  their  way  to  and  at  Copenhagen  much  dissuasion 
beset  them,  but  "  Go  forward,"  was  the  impetus  of  their 
hearts,  and  the  13th  of  Dec.  1732,  found  them  holding 
their  "great  light"  over  those  who  were  "sitting  in  dark- 
ness," in  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas. 

Li  1733,  Brother  Dober  was  left  alone,  by  the  recall  to 
Herrnhuth  of  his  co-arbiter,  Mtchmau  ;  but  finding  favor 
with  the  overseer,  was  installed  in  his  house  as  steward 
of  his  domestic  economy,  tliQ  duties  of  which  however 
increasing,  interfered  with  his  missionary  plan,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  retire  from  that  office,  and  take  a  small 
room  for  a  residence.  Here,  cast  upon  his  own  resources, 
he  hired  himself  as  watchman  for  the  inhabitants,  and  at 
the  same  time  went  to  his  trade,  that  of  a  potter ;  both 
of  which,  however,  were  not  sufficiently  lucrative  to 
spread  his  table  with  a  single  condiment  to  his  "  bread 
and  water;"  but  his  happiness  was  not  marred  by  this,  so 
long  as  he  could  have  access  to  the  souls  of  his  spiritual 
patients. 

After  feeling  the  influence  of  a  six  months'  rebellion  in 
St.  John's,  and  planting  the  "  mustard-seed"  of  faith,  and 
enjoying  a  sight  of  its  sprouts,  he  was  relieved  by  his 
early  friend  Leupold  and  others,  and  called  to  Herrnhuth, 
in  1735,  where  he  was  appointed  general  superintendent 
of  the  spiritual  department  of  the  churches,  which  office 
he  held  till  1741. 

From  1741  to  1747,  he  visited  and  sojourned  amongst 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  209 

many  of  the  congregations  in  Europe,  always  to  tlie 
profit  of  his  recipients. 

In  1747,  he  was  consecrated  a  bishop  of  the  Church, 
and  continued  his  faithfulness  to  his  Church,  visiting  and 
counselling  his  churches  in  different  parts  of  Europe, 
until  his  "  mortal  was  called  to  put  on  immortality,"  and 
the  "  crown  of  righteousness"  was  presented  to  his  hrow, 
as  the  reward  of  his  "good  fight  of  faith." 

He  was  born  in  Munshroth,  in  Suabia,  on  the  7th  of 
April,  1706 ;  and  departed  this  life  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1766,  in  his  60th  year,  and  interred  at  Ilennersdorf,  in 
Germany. 

lie  was  a  man  of  firm  decision,  active  and  persevering, 
courageous  in  his  religious  pursuits,  grave  in  deportment, 
but  aflable  in  social  intercourse  ;  always  exemplifying  that 
"godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things, having  promise  of 
the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  (1  Tim. 
4:  8.) 


14 


210  niSTORT   OF   TUE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 


CHRISTIAN  DAVID,  NON-EPISCOPUS. 

"  The  sparrow  hath  found  an  house,  and  the  swallow  a 
nest  for  herself,  even  thine  altars,  0  Lord  of  hosts." 
(Psalm  84  :  3.)  With  these  words,  fell  the  uplifted  axe 
of  tliis  man  of  faith,  upon  the  first  tree  that  was  smitten 
at  Herrnhuth,  to  make  way  for  the  altar  of  the  Lord, 
whence  to  exalt  the  valleys,  make  low  the  hills,  and 
smooth  the  rough  places  that  bestrode  the  way  of  evange- 
lization. 

This  act  of  faith,  of  June  17,  1722,  was  blest  and 
realized,  in  October  of  the  same  year,  in  the  completion 
and  consecration  of  the  tabernacle ;  and  Christian  David, 
a  grateful  participant  in  the  enjojmient,  thanked  God, 
took  courage,  and  made  known  their  wants  in  his  praj-er 
and  supplication,  at  the  conclusion  of  that  most  interest- 
ing ceremony. 

He  was  a  tie  from  the  ancient  to  the  renewed  Church 
of  the  Brethren. 

Emigrated  from  Moravia  to  Goerlitz,  in  1717,  where  he 
was  awakened  under  the  Rev.  M.  Sharpe,  after  which,  he 
returned  to  seek  and  gather  up  his  countrj-men,  and 
restore  them  to  the  sanctuary. 

He  did  return,  and,  like  Koah's  dove,  wandered  over 
the  troubled  waters  of  uncertainty  and  persecution,  before 
the  olive-branch  peered  over  the  storm,  and  offered  itself 
as  a  voucher  for  peace. 

Count  Zinzendorff  offered  him  an  asylum  on  his  estate, 


CHKISTIAN      DAVID. 

Missionary 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  211 

at  Berthlesdorf,  whence  grew  a  lovely  union  of  spirit, 
and  tlie  "open  door"  that  was  set  before  him  was  not 
shut  from  the  lifting  of  his  axe  at  Herrnhuth,  till  his  holy 
zeal  had  rained  down  spirit  and  power  over  the  unwept 
ills  of  distant  heathen  soil,  and  the  clod  of  the  valley  gave 
"peace  to  his  ashes." 

His  frequent  returns  to  his  native  countrj^,  to  warn  and 
warm  up  his  brethren  there,  and  his  journeys  into  Bohe- 
mia, Switzerland,  and  Livonia,  in  behalf  of  his  Church, 
are  amongst  the  grateful  recollections  of  the  Brethren's 
Church,  as  they  doubtless  are  to  the  Christian  world  in 
general. 

But  his  undaunted  courage,  and  self-sacrificing  pursuit 
of  souls  in  Greenland,  are  memorabilia  worthy  of  a 
martyr. 

In  1733,  when  the  Christian  world  was  young,  and  the 
moral  world  a  wilderness,  he  joined  "Brother  Matthew 
Stach,"  and  other  heroes  in  the  cause,  in  this  hazardous 
enterprise ;  and  although  hunger,  thirst,  and  murder 
itself,  were  pictured  with  all  their  terrors,  as  the  fruit  of 
their  labors,  their  ardor  was  not  softened,  nor  their  zeal 
abated;  they  trusted  in  God,  whom  they  believed  had 
sent  them,  and  said,  "  God,  in  the  promotion  of  his  king- 
dom on  earth,  has  ever  operated  with  small  and  unsightly 
materials,  to  show  that  to  Him  alone  belongs  the  glory, 
and  to  teach  man  that  he  only  must  give  the  increase." 

Again,  when  in  Copenhagen,  on  their  way  to  the  work, 
Count  Pleiss,  a  gentleman  who  was  much  interested 
in  them,  asked  them  how  they  intended  to  procure 
a  livelihood?  Unacquainted  with  the  situation  and 
climate  of  the  country,  they  replied,  "By  the  labor  of  our 
hands,  and  God's  blessing;"  adding,  that  they  would  build 


212  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAISr    CHURCH 

houses,  and  cultivate  a  piece  of  land.  Being  told  that 
there  was  no  wood  in  that  region,  they  said,  "  We  will  dig 
holes  in  the  earth,  and  lodge  there." 

The  Count,  astonished  at  their  ardor,  gave  them  fifty 
dollars  to  buy  timber  there,  and  take  with  them  for  the 
construction  of  a  house. 

They  went,  the  mission  was  set,  and  their  labors  were 
blest. 

Always  alive  to  the  duties  of  a  Christian  missionary, 
and  unscathed  of  his  early  affections — after  many  inter- 
mediate migrations — he  returned  to  his  spiritual  garden 
in  Greenland,  in  1747,  to  confirm  his  covenant  with  its 
growth,  in  the  superintendence  of  the  erection  of  a 
Church  at  ]S"ew  Herrnhuth,  and  in  1749,  again  to 
conduct  some  Greenland  converts  to  their  home. 

His  wonted  residence  was  Herrnhuth,  where,  when  not 
engaged  ofiicially,  he  "labored  with  his  hands,"  at  his 
trade  as  carpenter. 

Episcopal  orders  were  not  conferred  upon  him,  being 
neither  craved  by  ambition,  nor  necessary  to  his  spiritual 
•might ;  for,  as  he  wielded  the  axe  at  Herrnhuth,*  in  the 
beginning,  so,  throughout  his  life,  did  he  wield  "  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,"  severing  the  cords  that  bound  the 
heathen,  to  "the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,"  in  its 
passes  among  heathen  nations. 

*  Herrnliuth,  not  generally  understood,  is  thus  translated  and  explained, 
in  Holmes'  History  of  the  United  Brethren,  p.  169. 

"  It  has  a  double  signification,  and  may  be  translated,  either  the  object  of 
the  Lord's  protection,  or  the  watch  of  the  Lord,  the  place  where  his  ser- 
vants stand  waiting,  to  receive  and  execute  his  commands." 

This  place  shall  be  called  "the  watch  of  the  Lord  (des  Hut  des  Herrn"), 
was  Christian  David's  solution,  &c.  &c. 


IN    PIIILADELPniA.  213 

"Without  any  pretensions  to  refinement  in  oratory, 
spirit  and  power  were  in  his  utterance,  whilst  his  biblical 
knowledge  always  lit  up  his  "pictures  of  silver,  with 
apples  of  gold,"  whose  impress  yet  marks  the  fields  of  his 
spiritual  culture. 

Count  ZinzendorfFsaid  of  him,  at  his  funeral  discourse, 
that  "  the  Bible  was  so  precious  to  him,  that  he  never 
tired  in  its  perusal.  He  was  never  idle,  but  whatever  his 
hands  found  to  do,  he  did  with  all  his  might.  If  once 
convinced  that  he  was  undertaking  anything  according 
to  the  will  of  his  Lord,  and  for  the  good  of  his  neighbor, 
he  did  not  suffer  himself  to  be  hindered  by  any  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  its  execution." 

He  was  born  in  Senftleben,  in  Moravia,  December  31st, 
1690,  and  departed  this  life  on  the  3d  of  February,  1754. 


214  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CllURCIl 


DAVID  NITCHMAN,  EPISCOPUS. 

Consecrated  Bisliop  of  the  Brethren's  Church,  in  1735. 

"For  you  see  your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not 
many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble,  are  called. 

"  But  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  the  wise,  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  that  are 
mighty."    1  Cor.  1  :  26,  27. 

Here  we  have  a  shining  light  upon  this  dogma  of  the 
Apostle  Paul. 

David  Kitchman  was  by  trade  a  carpenter,  as  was  his 
father  before  him. 

He  was  born  in  Zauchenthal,  Moravia,  in  1696,  was  a 
member  of  the  ancient  Brethren's  Church,  and  as  a 
remnant  of  that,  was  a  pioneer  in  its  resuscitation  and  an 
ardent,  fearless,  and  devoted  colaborer  in  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

He  was  one  of  the  five  brethren  who  laid  their  axe  at 
the  root  of  the  pride  of  the  forest,  in  order  to  plant  a  tree 
of  perennial  beauty,  whose  leaves  should  be  "  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  nations ;"  and  to  this  end  was  a  witness  and  aid 
to  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  first  church  in 
Herrnhuth,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1724. 

In  1732,  he  accompanied  Brother  Leonard  Dober  to 
the  Island  of  St.  Thomas,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
a  mission,  or,   at    all    events,  to  break    up   the  fallow 


t^^ 


First  Bishop  of  the  Brethren's  Church. 

BcrnJ)ecrSFi^f696.        JJied  Odoba-  If  777S. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  215 

ground  of  the  benighted  negroes;  but  after  a  year  of 
opening  there,  was  recalled  to  Herrnhuth,  1733,  for  local 
purposes. 

In  1735,  he  was  consecrated  the  first  Bishop  of  the 
Moravian — renewed — Church,  by  Bishop  Jablonsky  and 
the  Polish  Moravian  Bishop  Sitkovius,  and  also  assisted 
as  Episcopus  with  Bishop  Jablonsky  at  the  consecration 
to  the  Episcopacy  of  Count  ZinzendoriF,  in  1737. 

In  1740,  he  was  a  party  to  the  beginning  of  the  village 
of  I^azareth,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  spring  of  1741, 
was  a  like  party  to  the  founding  of  the  head-quarters  of 
the  Church,  in  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania. 

Here,  with  Bishop  Spangenberg  and  others,  he  was 
appointed  supervisor  of  the  several  settlements  of  the 
Brethren,  acting  either  in  concert  or  succession,  as  neces- 
sity required.  He  was  upwards  of  seventy  years  of  age 
at  the  beginning  of  this  work.  Yet,  undaunted  by  fear 
or  infirmity,  he  yielded  to  none  in  trust  in  God  for  a 
successful  issue. 

The  corner-stone  at  Herrnhuth  was,  under  God,  the 
anchor  of  his  hope  for  Bethlehem. 

Although  wasting  in  bodily  strength  under  the  deepen- 
ing shades  of  time,  his  mental  energies,  imbued  from  his 
youth,  grew  on  in  the  things  that  belonged  to  his  and 
the  eternal  peace  of  his  Indian  flocks,  in  Pennsylvania, 
with  whose  missionaries  he  kept  a  lively,  interesting,  and 
profitable  correspondence  unto  his  last  end,  which  time 
and  the  grace  of  God  guarded  until  the  4th  of  April, 
1758,  giving  him  eighty-one  years  of  sojourn  on  earth. 

A  persevering  self-sacrificing  Christian,  of  indomitable 
zeal,  earnest  and  determined  in  the  cause  of  his  Master, 


21G  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

unterrifiecl  by  the  perils  of  the  sea,  and  unconcerned  for 
he  threats  of  poverty  and  want  on  land. 

His  "staff  and  stay"  were  neither  purse  nor  scrip,  but 
"  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  righteousness"  was  the 
field  of  his  labors,  and  the  soil  that  was  to  add  all  else  to 
him,  and  this  he  cultivated  in  his  fifty  voyages,  from 
point  to  point,  incurring  "the  perils  of  the  sea,"  weari- 
ness, painfulness,  and  frequent  watching,  all  with  untir- 
ing zeal  in  the  holy  cause  of  his  espousal. 


■-Pail 


ERDiMUTH  DOROTHLV  COOTESS  lEXZENPORF 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  217 


THE  COUNTESS  ERDMUTH  DOROTHEA  VON 
ZINZENDORFF. 

The  memory  of  this  "mother  in  Israel"  has  just 
claims  upon  our  pen,  not  merely  as  the  spouse  of  the 
well-born  and  pious  youth  of  Dresden,  nor  the  silken 
cord  of  the  matrimonial  tie  with  a  titled  gentleman,  nor 
yet  as  a  titled  lady  and  figurante  in  the  world  of  startling 
events,  but  as  one  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christ  and  his 
Church,  divesting  herself  of  the  privileges  open  to  her 
rank,  eschewing  the  fascinations  of  a  gay  and  solicitous 
circle,  and  rejecting  the  insidious  presence  of  the  capti- 
vating influences  of  the  gay  world. 

She  adopted  her  husband's  views,  and  was  at  once  a 
"handmaid"  to  him  in  his  varied  and  laborious  under- 
takings ;  aiding  and  furthering  his  spiritual  designs,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  guarding  the  means  and  the  measures 
escaping  too  rapidly  from  his  liberal  treasury ;  for, 
although  Zinzendortf  did  not  "spend  his  money  for  that 
which  is  nought,"  it  is  well  known,  that  "  self-preserva- 
tion was  not  his  first  law  of  nature." 

Holmes,  in  his  "History  of  the  Protestant  Church 
of  the  United  Brethren,"  speaks  of  her  as  follows: 

"In  reference  to  her  union  with  Count  ZinzendorfF,  it  is 
not  sufficient  to  say  that  she  discharged,  with  Christian 
fidelity,  all  the  duties  of  a  wife,  mother,  and  mistress  of 


218  HISTORY    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

lier  family,  but  she  entered  into  all  his  views  for  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel,  and  became  his  faithful  coadju- 
trix  in  his  labors  in  the  Brethren's  Church,  gladly  sharing 
in  the  reproach  he  suffered  for  the  name  of  Christ. 

"  When,  for  the  Gospel's  sake,  he  relinquished  all  his 
expectations  of  wealth  and  worldly  honor,  and  subjected 
himself  to  banishment  and  persecutions  ;  instead  of  re- 
pining at  her  loss,  as  the  world  would  call  it,  she 
accounted  it  gain  to  sutler  the  loss  of  all  things,  that  she 
might  win  Christ. 

"  Instead  of  harassing  her  consort  by  grieving  and 
murmuring,  she  confirmed  him  in  his  resolutions,  and 
encouraged  his  faith  and  trust  in  God. 

"  When  he  was  disqualified  from  attending  to  his  tem- 
poral concerns,  she  took  the  whole  management  of  his 
estates,  as  well  as  of  his  domestic  afiairs,  into  her  hands. 

"  Though  of  a  delicate  constitution,  and  the  mother  of 
twelve  children,  she  accompanied  her  husband  on  many 
of  his  journeys  and  voyages,  or  bore  repeated  and  long 
separations  from  him,  without  repining,  whenever  they 
were  rendered  necessary  in  the  vineyard  of  Christ. 

"In  short,  they  were  one  heart  and  soul,  not  only  in  their 
conjugal  relations,  but  in  their  determination  to  conse- 
crate themselves,  their  children,  their  time,  and  their 
wealth,  to  Christ  and  his  service." 

This  may  suffice  to  show  that  "  she  was  a  lady  of  no 
common  endowments;  and  perhaps  the  only  one  who  in 
every  respect  could  have  so  completely  adapted  herself  to 
the  peculiar  situation  in  which  she  was  placed,  by  her 
marriage,  and  the  vocation  of  her  consort." 

She  was  the  sister  of  Count  Henry  Reuss,  an  intimate 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  219 

associate  of  Count  ZinzendoriF,  to  whom  slie  was  mar- 
ried on  the  7th  of  September,  1722;  and  departed  this 
life  in  the  month  of  June  (19th),  1756,  in  the  56th  year  of 
her  age.  On  the  25th,  her  remains  were  interred  in  the 
burial-ground  of  the  church  at  Herrnhuth,  largely, 
solemnly,  and  tearfully  attended. 


220  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Conclusion — Table  of  the  Episcopate,  &c. 

Having  thus  brought  to  view  a  portraiture  of  a  few  of 
the  early  and  very  efficient  heads  and  leaders  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrii,  not,  however,  as  a  boastful  show  of  their 
prowess,  nor  even  as  a  guarantee  for  the  doings  of 
their  successors;  for,  however  true  it  be,  that  the  Mora- 
vian Church  of  the  present,  is  an  active  principle,  and  a 
doctrinal  succession  of  its  fathers,  yet  we  cannot  deny 
the  difference  of  the  practical  minutice  of  this,  compared 
with  that  "day  of  small  things." 

Simplicity  of  word  and  deed,  and  even  faith  itself,  have 
passed  into  and  through  the  refining  fire  of  the  march  of 
improvement;  and  "the  spirit  of  the  age,"  offers  them 
in  a  cruder  form. 

That  there  is  a  deterioration  of  the  manners,  customs, 
profession,  and  practical  illustration  of  the  religion  of  our 
Saviour,  is  beyond  controversy.  And  why  ?  Are  we  any 
better  than  they  ?  Are  we  as  powerful  and  successful  ?  Cer- 
tainly not.  But  we  refine  too  much  of  God's  holy  Word, 
make  it  enigmatical;  and  the  plain,  simplified  effusions  of 
our  Saviour's  mind  are  mystified  in  figures  of  speech.  He 
said,  "  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  and 
shall  say  to  this  sycamore  tree.  Be  thou  removed,  and  cast 
into  the  sea,  it  shall  be  done."     And  he  proved  it  when 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  221 

by  an  act  of  the  same  faith,  he,  at  the  marriage  at  Cana, 
turned  water  into  wine. 

It  was  upon  this  surety — divesting  themselves  entirely 
of  self-dependence — that  our  fathers  lived  and  moved 
and  had  their  ministerial  being.  And  but  for  this,  all 
the  sacrifices  in  the  world  could  not  have  wrought  the 
successful  issues  to  the  work  of  their  hands. 

They  were  plain  simple-hearted  men,  unsophisticated, 
ungarnished  of  worldly  wisdom,  haviug  only  "  a  single 
eye  to  the  glory  of  God,"  believing,  that  as  Jesus  Christ 
"  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,"  so  the  faith 
inculcated  and  founded  upon  his  eternity,  was  as  good  a 
foundation  for  their  superstruction  as  it  was  to  the  more 
immediate  recipients  of  the  instruction. 

They  went  forth  "without  purse  or  scrip,"  with  trust 
in  God  for  their  treasury,  and  faith  their  luminary  to  the 
point  of  their  pursuit,  and  manned  them  for  the  perils  of 
their  enterprise. 

Now,  may  we  not  ask,  where  is  this  practical  faith 
nowadays  ?  And  who  will  believe  our  report  if  we 
show  some  of  these  men  almost  miraculously  fed  in  the 
wilderness  ?  And  yet  the  history  of  the  Moravian  Mis- 
sions, by  "Rister,"  gives  a  remarkable  instance  of  this 
"  substance  of  things  hoped  for." 

The  distance  from  Bethlehem  to  the  Iroquois  Nations 
was  great,  and  perilous  to  pass ;  highways  were  few,  and 
byways  and  paths  through  dense  forests  the  only  alter- 
native to  the  missionary ;  moreover,  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  carry  provisions  for  a  journey  of  three  months, 
especially  being  on  foot. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  when  about  to  encamp  for 
the  night  in  a  wood,  by  the  side  of  a  stream,  the  Brethren 


222  HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

Spangenberg,    Zeisbergcr,    and    Schebosh   found    them- 
selves without  food. 

The  Bishop  (Spangenberg)  requested  Zeisberger  to  cast 
his  net  and  catch  fish.  The  latter,  smiling,  said  to  his 
companion,  "  Spangenberg  does  not  know  much  about 
fishing,"  and  turning  to  him  said,  "  There  are  no  fish 
here ;  the  water  is  muddy  and  cold,  and  the  fish  have 
gone  to  the  bottom." 

The  Bishop  repeated  his  command ;  the  net  was  cast, 
and  the  abundance  required  the  power  of  two  of  them  to 
secure.  After  their  repast,  they  dried  the  surplus  for 
future  use ;  but  in  process  of  days,  they  again  fell  short, 
and  were  again  supplied  by  the  haunch  of  a  bear,  left  by 
the  Indians  hanging  on  a  tree  before  them. 

We  might  present  very  many  instances  of  answers  to 
the  prayer  of  faith,  but  the  difference  between  the  sim- 
plicity of  these  fathers  in  their  literal  conceptions  of 
Holy  Writ,  and  the  sons  of  the  present  day,  is,  alas !  too 
great  to  spare  the  details,  the  obloquy  of  fabulous  re- 
ports ;  notwithstanding,  they  are  a  part  of  the  riches  of 
history,  and  by  which  we  thank  God  that  we  can  say, 
these  elders  obtained  "a  good  report." 

We  do  not  mean  to  hold  up  these  men  merely  as  Mora- 
vians ;  for,  doubtless,  there  were  others  equally  bound  up 
by  this  silken  tie  to  "the  secrets  of  the  Lord;"  but  as 
ensamples  to  induce  and  encourage  ourselves  to  turn 
from  the  byways  of  mystified  construction,  and,  like 
Elias,  pass  direct  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  pray  for 
rain,  and  get  it. 

Eschewing  bigotry  in  any  form,  it  is,  however,  but  com- 
mon justice  to  the  Moravian  Church  to  say,  that  it  was  a 
seed  pregnant  of  faith,  fructified  by  faithfulness,  and  rich 


IN    PIIILADELPillA.  2-d 

in  its  bearing,  and  that  the  practical  faith  of  its  fathers 
will  compare  with  anything  in  religion,  from  the  days  of 
the  Apostles  ;  but  we  would  not  offer  their  sunset  as  a 
repose  to  their  generations,  nor  as  a  salvo  to  the  manifest 
diiference  between  their  doings  and  ours.  And  why 
this?  Is  faith  not  the  same?  Is  the  promise  not  the  same? 
Is  God's  requirement  not  the  same  ?  Yea,  "  let  God  be 
true,  and  every  man  a  liar;"  they  are  all  the  same;  but 
where  are  we?  Compromising  faith,  to  meet  the  spirit  of 
the  age ;  whilst  religious  epicurianism  is  in  general  but 
too  easily  satisfied  with  the  paling  shadows  of  the 
memory  of  the  fathers  of  the  faithful. 

"Return,  0  Holy  Dove,  return, 
Sweet  messenger  of  rest; 
I  hate  the  sins  that  naake  thee  mourn, 
And  drove  thee  from  my  breast." 

As  matter  of  general  history,  I  append  the  following 
from  "The  Moravian,"  of  May  30th,  1856,  as  arranged  by 
the  Rev.  E.  A.  De  Schweinitz,  pastor  of  the  Church  in 
Philadelj^hia,  and  one  of  the  editors  of  that  very  valuable 
organ  of  the  Church. 

THE    EPISCOPAL    SUCCESSION   IN    THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH, 
FROM    THE   YEAR    1467    TO   THE   YEAR    1856. 

The  second  column  shows  the  years  in  which  the  Bishops  were  consecrated, 
the  fourth  column  contains  explanatory  remarks.  The  word  "  Praeses''  means 
that  the  Bishop,  aside  of  whose  name  it  stands,  was  tlie  senior  Bishop  (as  to  the 
rime  of  consecration),  primus  inter  pares,  whose  prerogative  it  was  to  preside 
at  the  Synods.  The  ancient  Unity  was  divided  into  the  Moravian,  Bohemian, 
and  Polish  branches.  In  the  list  of  Bishops  of  the  Renewed  Church,  the  words 
''N.  America,  England,"  &c ,  signify  that  the  Bishops  aside  of  whose  names 
they  stand,  held  or  hold  official  stations  in  those  countries. 


224 


HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN  CHURCH 


Year  of 

Nos. 

Ordination, 

1. 

14G7. 

2, 

(1 

4. 

(( 

5. 

u 

6. 

1499. 

7. 

u 

8. 

1503, 

9. 

" 

10. 

1506. 

11. 

11 

12. 

1516, 

13. 

1529. 

14. 

(I 

15. 

a 

16. 

1532. 

17. 

» 

18. 

11 

19. 

1537. 

20. 

(1 

21. 

1550. 

22. 

" 

23. 

K 

24; 

1553. 

25. 

1557. 

26. 

II 

27. 

1571. 

28. 

11 

29. 

II 

30. 

1577. 

31. 

" 

32. 

1587. 

Aiicient    Ohiircli. 

Bishops. 
Micliael  Bradacius, 
A  Waldensian  pastor  who 
had  joined  the  Brethren. 
A   Roman    Catholic    priest 
who  had  joined  the  Bre- 
thren. 
Matthias  of  Kunewalde, 
Procofiius, 
Thomas  Pralauzius, 
Ellas  Chrzenovius. 
Lucas  of  Prague, 
Ambrosius  Skutecensis. 
Wenceslaus. 
Daniel. 
Martinus  Szkoda, 

Wenceslaus  Albus. 
Andreas  Ciclovius. 

John  Horn, 
Benedictus  Bavorinus. 

Vitus  Michalecius. 

John  Augusta, 

Martinus  Michalecius. 
IMatthias  Sionius. 

John  Czerny. 

Matthias. 

Paul  Paulinus. 

Matthias  Czervenka. 

George  Israel, 

John  Blahoslav. 
Andreas  Stephaiius. 
John  Caleph, 

John  Laurentius. 
Zacharias  Litomislensis, 
John  iEneas, 
John  Abdias. 


liemarks. 
Praeses. 


Praeses. 

Praeses  for  27  years. 

Praeses  for  1 1  years. 

Praeses  for  10  years. 


Praeses  for  5  years. 


Praeses  for  15  years. 


Praeses  for  25  years. 


Praeses  in   Poland  for   16 
years. 


Praeses  in  Moravia  for   6 
months. 

Praeses  for  2  years. 
Praeses  for  4  years. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 


oor. 


Year  of 

Nos. 

Ordination. 

Bishops. 

Remarks. 

33. 

15b7. 

Simon  Turnovius, 

Praeses  in  Poland  for  14 
years. 

34. 

1589. 

John  Ephraim. 

35. 

" 

Paul  Jessenius. 

36. 

1594. 

Jacob  Narcissus, 

Praeses  for  3  years. 

37. 

it 

John  Niemczanius. 

38. 

1599. 

Samuel  Sussicius. 

39. 

(; 

Zacharias  Ariston. 

40, 

1601. 

Bartholomew  Niemczanius. 

41. 

(( 

John  Lanecius, 

Praeses  for  15  years. 

42. 

1606. 

John  Cruciger. 

43. 

1608. 

Martin  Gertichius, 

Praeses  in  Poland  for  3 
years. 

44. 

" 

Matthias  Rybinius. 

45. 

1609. 

Matthias  Koneczny. 

46. 

1611. 

Matthias  Cyrus. 

47. 

1612. 

John  Turnovius, 

Praeses   in  Poland   for  30 

48. 


19. 

1618. 

50. 

1627. 

51. 

1629. 

52. 

1632. 

53. 

u 

54. 

(( 

Gregory  Erastus, 

John  Cyril  I  us. 
Daniel  Micolajevius. 
Paul  Paliurus. 
Laurentius  Justinus, 

Matthias  Procopius. 
Amos  Comenius, 


days. 
Praeses  in  Bohemia  for  14 
years. 


Praeses  in  Bohemia  and 
Moravia  for  5  years. 

Praeses  for  23  years.  The 
last  Bishop  of  the  Bohe- 
mian Moravian  brancli ; 
the  rest  are  all  Bishops 
of  the  Polish  branch. 


55. 

IC 

Paul  Fabricius. 

56. 

1633. 

Martin  Orminins. 

57. 

:t 

John  Rybinius. 

58. 

1644. 

Martin  Gertichius,  Jun. 

59. 

" 

John  Biittner. 

60. 

1662. 

Nicholas  Gertichius. 
15 

226 


HISTORY   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


Year  of 

S'os. 

Ordination. 

Bishops. 

61. 

1GG2. 

Peter  Jablonsky. 

62. 

1G73. 

Adam  S.  Hartman. 

03. 

1G76. 

John  ZugehOr. 

64. 

1692. 

Joachim  Gulich. 

G5. 

1699. 

John  Jacobides. 

6G. 

(1 

Dan.  Ernst  Jablonsky. 

67. 

1709. 

Solomon  Opitz. 

6S. 

1712. 

David  Cassius. 

69. 

1725. 

Paul  Cassius. 

70. 

1734. 

Christian  Sitkovins. 

Remarks. 


Renewed  Church. 


71. 

1735. 

72. 

1737. 

73. 

1740. 

74. 

1741. 

75. 

1743. 

76. 

1744. 

77. 

1715. 

78. 

1746. 

79. 

" 

80. 

(i 

81. 

a 

82. 

1747. 

83. 

" 

84. 

" 

S5. 

1748. 

SG. 

11 

87. 

1750. 

SS. 

1751. 

89. 

1754. 

90. 

1756. 

91. 

1758. 

92. 

(1 

93. 

1770. 

94. 

1773. 

David  Nitschman, 

Lewis  Count  Zinzendortf. 

Polycarp  Mliller. 

John  Nitschman,  Sen. 

Frederick  de  Watteville. 

Martin  Dober. 

Augustus  G.  Spangenberg, 

David  Nitschman,  Jun. 

Frederick  W.  Neisser. 

Christian  F.  Steinhofer. 

J.  F.  Camerhof, 

John  de  Watteville. 

Leonhard  Dober. 

A.  A.  Vieroth. 

Frederick  JMartin, 

Peter  Boehler, 

G.  Waiblinger. 

Matthew  Hehl, 

John  Gambold, 

A.  Grasman. 

John  Nitschman. 

Nath.  Seidel, 

JMartin  Mack, 

M.  Graf, 


N.  Ai 


N.  America. 


N.  America. 


W.  Indies. 
N.  America. 

N.  America. 
England. 


N.  America. 
W.  Indies. 

N.  America. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 


227 


Year  of 

Nos. 

Ordination. 

Bishops. 

95. 

1775. 

J.  F.  Reicliel. 

9G. 

u 

P.  E.  Layritz. 

97. 

11 

P.  H.  Molther. 

9S. 

1782, 

H.  de  Brueningk. 

99. 

(1 

G.  Clemens. 

100. 

a 

Jeremiah  Risler. 

101. 

1783. 

Geo.  Tranecker. 

102. 

1784. 

John  Etwein, 

103. 

17S5. 

John  Schaukirch, 

104. 

17SG. 

B.  G.  MuUer. 

105. 

17S9. 

Christian  Gregor. 

106. 

11 

Samuel  Liebisch. 

107. 

" 

C.  Duvernoy. 

lOS. 

11 

Benj.  Rothe. 

109. 

1790. 

J.  A.  Huebner, 

110. 

" 

J.  D.  KcEhler, 

111. 

1801. 

Thomas  IVloore, 

112. 

-" 

Christian  Dober. 

113. 

« 

S.  T.  Benade, 

114. 

" 

Gotthold  Reichel, 

115. 

1802. 

G.  H.  Loskiel, 

116. 

1S08. 

J.  G.  Cunow. 

117. 

11 

Herman  Richter. 

118. 

1811. 

John  Herbst, 

119. 

1814. 

W.  Fabricius. 

120. 

11 

C.  G.  Hiieffel, 

121. 

(1 

C.  A.  Baumeister. 

122. 

(1 

J.  B.  de  Albertini. 

123. 

1815. 

Jacob  Van  Vleck, 

124. 

1818. 

G.  M.  Schneider. 

125. 

11 

F.  W.  Foster, 

126. 

" 

Benjamin  Reichel. 

127. 

1822. 

Andrew  Benade, 

128. 

1825. 

Hans  Wied. 

129. 

" 

Lewis  Fabricius. 

130. 

" 

P.  F.  Curie. 

131. 

11 

John  Holmes, 

Fiemarks. 


N.  America. 
N.  America. 


N.  America. 
N,  America. 
England. 

England. 
N.  America. 
N.  America. 


N.  America. 
N.  America. 

N.  America. 
England. 
N.  America. 

England. 


228 


HISTORY  OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CIIURCK 


Year  of 

Nos. 

Ordination. 

132. 

1827. 

133. 

1S35. 

134. 

(( 

135. 

1 830. 

136. 

" 

137. 

(t 

138. 

11 

139. 

li 

140. 

11 

141. 

" 

142. 

1843. 

143. 

" 

144. 

" 

145. 

1844. 

140. 

1845. 

147. 

1846. 

148. 

" 

149. 

1848. 

150. 

1852. 

151. 

" 

152. 

1853. 

153. 

u 

154. 

11 

155. 

1854. 

Bishops. 
J.  D.  Anders, 
Fred.  L.  K(Elbing. 
John  C.  Bechlcr, 

C.  A.  Pohlman. 
H.  P.  Halbeck, 
Jacob  Levin  Reichel. 

D.  F.  Gambs. 

Wm.  Henry  Van  Vleck, 
John  K.  Martyn, 
John  Ellis, 
John  M.  Nitschman. 
C.  C.  Ultsch. 
John  Stengard. 
W.  Wisdom  Essex, 
Peter  Wolle, 
J.  G.  Herman, 
Benj.  Seifferth, 
C.  W.  Matthiesen. 
F.  Joachim  Nielsen, 
John  Rogers, 
J.  C.  Breutel. 
Henry  T.  Dober. 
George  Wall  Westerb}', 
John  C.  Jacobson, 


Remarks. 
N.  America. 

N.  America. 

S.  Africa. 


N.  America. 
England. 
W.  Indies. 


England. 
N.  America. 
N.  America. 
England. 


St.  Petersburg,  Russia. 
England. 


W.  Indies. 
N.  America. 


Of  these  Bishops  the  following  thirteen  are  livino 


(The  senior  Bishop  of  the  whole  Unity,  living  in 
retirement  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.     He  has  been  a 
Bishop  for  34  years. 
Living  in  retirement  at  Herrnhuth.  Saxony. 

{Member  of  the   Unity's  Elders'  Conference,  and 
President  of  the  same. 
Christian  W.  Matihiesen,       Member  of    do. 
John  C.  Breutel,  Member  of    do. 

Henry  T.  Dober,  Stationed  at  Gnadenfeld,  in  Silesia. 

Christian  C.  Ultsch,  Stationed  at  Gnadenfrei,  in  Silesia. 


Andrew  Benade, 

John  C.  Bechler, 

John  iMartin  Nitschman, 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 


229 


John  C.  Jacobson, 

Peter  Wolle, 

Benjamin  Seiffertb. 

John  Rogers, 

George  Wall  Westerby, 

F.  J.  Nielsen, 


f  Member'of  tlie  Provincial  Elders'  Conference  on 
I 
^       the  Northern  Province  of  the  American  Church, 

L      and  President  of  the  same. 

Member  of    do. 

{Member  of  the  British  Provincial  Helpers'  Con- 
ference, and  President  of  the  same. 
Stationed  at  Fairfield,  England. 
Stationed  on  the  island  of  Antigua. 
Stationed  in  St.  Petersburg.  Russia. 


APPENDIX. 


DIACxRAPH  OF  THE  IMMEDIATE  NEIGHBORHOOD  OF  THE 
OLD  CHURCH, 

FROM  THE  DATE  OF  ITS  ORIGIN  TO  THE  BEGIXNIXG  OF  THE 
PRESENT  CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  Glimpse  of  the  Early  Settlement,  or  Immediate  Environs  of  the  First 
Moravian  Church,  with  Recollections  of  the  Tenants  in  Common  of  that 
and  after-time  from  the  Church  to  Second  Street,  southward  to  Drinker's 
Alley,  and  northward  to  the  Southeast  Corner. 

Although  the  history  of  this  Church  may  have  little 
to  do  with  the  history  of  Philadelphia,  yet  the  city  mnst 
adopt  it  as  its  own  kith  and  kin,  and  share  its  dignity 
and  the  honors  due  to  the  antiquity  of  an  important, 
though  unpretending  contributor  to  its  rise  and  progress ; 
for,  in  thus  presenting  herself,  remoulded  from  the  dust 
of  oblivion,  her  comparative  claims  upon  the  march  of 
improvement  entitle  her  to  a  share  of  its  respectful  con- 
siderations, whilst  the  social  circle  of  her  centre  may 
offer  its  radii  to  weld  the  venerable  links  of  the  olden 
time,  or  warm  up  the  curiosity  of  rising  generations. 

To  this  end,  from  the  fragments  of  data,  the  dew 
drops  of  memory,  and  the  incontrovertible  landmarks  of 
tenacious  facts,  I  shall  gather  and  offer  a  retrospect  of 
the  vicinage  of  our  Church,  and  that  part  of  our  now 
great  city  (then  struggling  with  prosperity)  for  a  modicum 
of  its  furtherance. 

That  Philadelphia  was  in  its  infancy  in  the  year  1741, 
and  for  some  years  after,  is  certainly  beyond  controversy, 
and  that  the  original  Moravian  Church  was  very  near  its 
western  boundary,  can  be  no  less  entitled  to  credulity. 


234  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Imagination,  therefore,  need  not  be  severely  taxed  to 
see  roads  instead  of  streets,  and  paths  instead  of  paves, 
as  the  conveniences  for  passing  from  point  to  point ;  nor  to 
see  west  of  Third  Street  a  highway,  to  and  from  the  city ; 
whilst  Allen's  lot  may  have  been  bounded  by  a  dusty  or 
a  muddy  passage  from  Race  to  Arch  Streets,  erst  brought 
into  municipal  notice  by  the  title  of  the  Church,  that 
formed  its  southeast  corner.  There  is,  however,  some 
data,  for  the  dots  and  lines  that  constituted  the  life  of  this 
vicinage. 

That  Frederick  II,  King  of  Prussia,  guarded  the 
domains  for  the  "  entertainment  of  man  and  horse,"  vis- 
d-vis  the  Church,  and  that  his  sturdy  equestrian  figure 
was  the  beacon  to  the  wayworn  traveller,  announcing  its 
whereabouts,  as  it  swung  to  the  breeze,  and  creaked  the 
paeans  of  the  host  within,  for  full  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury, is  scarcely  matter  of  controversy,  since,  for  nearly 
threescore  of  those  years,  the  writer  can  vouch. 

This  tavern — for  there  were  no  hotels  in  those  days — 
was  kept,  in  1795,  by  Abraham  Butz ;  after  him  by  a 
certain  Peter  Paris ;  and,  subsequently,  by  Jacob  Smith, 
in  1816.  Its  very  extensive  grounds  on  the  rear,  acces- 
sible by  a  ten  or  twelve  feet  passage  from  Pace  Street, 
was  an  inviting  harbor  for  the  retirement  of  horses,  car- 
riages, and  vehicles  of  all  sorts,  and  was  extensively 
patronized. 

Immediately  west  of  this,  was  the  store  of  Abraham 
Piesch*  —  a  Swiss  —  an  importer  and  large  dealer  in 
German  goods,  but  afterwards  an  eminent  shipping- 
merchant,  and  very  successful  in  the  "^Yest  India  carry- 
ing trade,  when  our  superabundance  of  apples,  onions? 

*  Under  the  firm  of  Piesch  &  Majerhoif.  ■  . 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  )lSb 

soap,  candles,  lard,  &c.  &c.,  went  out  at  a  minimum,  and 
came  back  in  coiFee,  often  in  bulk, — being  superabundant 
there — and  yielding  a  maximum  here  to  every  successive 
enterprise.  Extending  his  sphere,  however,  the  war  of 
1812  caught  him,  as  well  in  Europe  as  on  the  high  seas. 
"Where,  in  the  one  case,  his  employees  played  false,  and  in 
the  other  the  common  enemy  not  only  stopped  his  career 
by  blockade  and  embargo,  but  enforced  their  rights  of 
seizure  according  to  the  laws  of  war;  and  made  this 
theretofore  successful  and  highly  respected  merchant  a 
bankrupt,  and  threw  him  into  the  chilling  stream  of 
poverty,  and  under  the  withering  scowl  of  those  who,  in 
his  prosperity,  had  bowed  the  knee  to  his  purse ;  but  now, 
alas  !  gave  the  cold  shoulder  to  his  person.  Alas  !  alas  ! 
suchisthe  horrible  influence  of  dollars  and  cents.  Whether 
honestly  obtained  or  not,  or  lost  by  waste,  extravagance, 
or  dire  misfortune,  'tis  all  the  same ;  the  almighty  dollar 
only  can  lift  the  hat,  or  lubricate  the  knee.  But  to  my 
subject. 

In  order,  however,  to  present  a  more  intelligible 
diagraph,  I  shall  return  to  my  centre,  starting  eastward 
from  the  church,  taking  a  review  of  Race  Street  from 
Second  to  Third,  with  a  sufficient  scope  at  each  turn  to 
make  up  an  historical  boundary. 

Proceeding,  therefore,  eastward,  we  have  first  the  old 
red  frame  store-house*  of  1785,  then  in  the  occupancy  of 
John  Peters,  at  ^50  per  annum  ;  Jacob  Lawersweiler,  at 
£25 ;  Godfrey  Haga,  at  £15 ;  in  1801,  by  C.  Helmbold 
and  John  Ge3'er,  printers ;  and  finally,  by  George  Ritter 
as  a  cabinet-maker's  shop  till  1810,  when  it  was  demo- 
lished, and  a  three-story  brick  put  up  in  its  place,*  which, 

*  This  buildins  cost  §1990  46. 


236  HISTORY    OF    THE    MOEAVIAN    CHURCIl 

being  in  the  interior  nnfinislied,  was  let  to  diaries  Pom- 
mer  as  a  piano  nianiifaetorj,  in  whicli  lie  established  a 
good  reputation  for  his  instruments,  and  profited  by  the 
result. 

This  building  was  subsequently  finished  for  a  dwelling, 
and  as  such,  was  first  occupied  by  the  late  George  "VY. 
Mentz. 

Adjoining  this,  there  was  a  two-story  faded-blue  frame, 
occupied  by  Sukey  Beck,  widow  of  Jacob  Beck,  shoe- 
maker, who  sold  cakes  and  spruce  beer,  but  who  was 
associated  with  shoe-making,  or  shoe-vending,  as  indi- 
cated by  the  two  or  three  pairs  of  ready-made  shoes 
arranged  on  a  shelf,  jutting  from  the  sill  of  the  window. 

Sukey  deserves  a  tribute  to  her  memory  for  her  very 
good-natured  services  at  her  counter,  especially  when 
■vve — boys — behaved  to  her  satisfaction  ;  but  when  we 
were  naughty,  and  dripped  the  dregs  of  our  cup  in  her 
face,  as  she  ascended  from  the  cellar  through  the  trap 
door,  behind  the  counter,  the  ordinary  vocabulary — to 
her — was  of  minor  importance. 

Another  two-story  blue  frame,  of  twelve  feet  front,  was 
the  residence,  and  pastry  and  fancy  cake  bakery  of  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Mentz,  whose  skill,  tact,  and  talent,  in  that 
refined  department  of  the  culinary  art,  begat  for  her  a 
profitable  reputation,  a  respectable  patronage,  and  a 
happy  contribution  to  her  domestic  comforts. 

The  venerable  Joseph  ISTorth,  a  relic  of  much  earlier 
times,  occupied  the  next  house,  a  two-story  brick,  with 
attic  and  dormer  windows.  It  was  about  twenty-five  feet 
front,  door  between  the  windows,  and  penthouse  for 
protection  of  the  lower  front. 


IX    PHILADELPHIA.  237 

The  Misses  North,  his  sisters,  kept  a  dry  goods  store 
there,  before  and  after  his  demise. 

Next  to  this,  there  was  a  very  narrow  and  very  aged 
two-story  brick  house,  occupied,  before  this  century,  by 
a  Mrs.  Roderfield,  as  a  fancy  millinery,  1795  ;  and  in 
1801,  by  Andrew  Barnes,  a  shopkeeper. 

A  narrow  passage  here,  running  south,  was  the  avenue 
to  several  small  tenements,  one  of  which  was  a  school- 
house  for  children. 

At  the  lower  corner  of  this  alley,  there  was  a  dirty 
yellow  frame,  standing  some  four  or  five  feet  from  the 
line,  occupied  by  a  female  as  a  huckster  shop  ;  who,  not 
being  famed  for  very  tidy  habits,  fell  heir  to  the  soubri- 
quet of  "  Dirty  Nancy."* 

The  adjoining  tenements  were  two  three-story  bricks, 
of  ancient  date — yet  standing  ;  the  first  was  occupied  by 
Mrs.  Seitz,  a  widow  lady,  there  resident  for  many  years. 
The  other  was  the  residence  and  industrial  department  of 
Matthias  (commonly  called  "Mattes")  and  John  Roush, 
leather  breeches  makers,  of  whom  a  respectful  reflex 
can  neither  be  considered  impious  nor  impertinent ;  and, 
therefore,  to  throw  off,  for  the  moment,  our  threescore, 
and  wave  the  hatof  our  juvenility  to  these  ancient  friends, 
— for  so  they  were  in  the  year  1800 — as  at  noon,  or  even- 
tide, they  dignified  their  inviting  porch,  and  listlessly 
acknowledged  the  passing  nod,  is  but  to  cull  a  flower 
from  the  verdant  field  of  our  youthful  ramblings,  and 
ofler  it  to  the  gatherings  of  antiquarian  lore,  with  a  re- 
spectful remembrance  of  our  city's  early  fathers. 

They  were  pioneers  of  that  neighborhood,  John  Roush 

*  All  of  the  above  properties  have  passed  their  ordeal,  and  the  ground 
is  now  occupied  by  two  large  stores,  built  by  Conrad  Grove,  and  constitute 
his  mart  for  the  sale  of  oils. 


:io^  HISTORY  or  the  Moravian  church 

having  occupied  the  corner  frame,  as  skin-dresser,  before 
1795 ;  as  was  well  proven  by  the  dark,  dull,  and  almost 
obliterated  sign  of  a  pair  of  leather  breeches,  astraddle, 
fast  fading  to  nonenit}',  yet  catching  the  eye  and  winnirig 
the  patronage  of  passers,  for  its  industrious  owners. 

They  were  bachelors,  well  dried,  and  perhaps  well  triedy 
too,  in  the  tandem  of  single  blessedness;  who,  whilst  their 
sunken  lips  lay  buried  between  their  nose  and  chin,  the 
antique  board  over  their  door  bore  incontrovertible  evi- 
dence of  its  contemporaneous  services  to  the  ways  and 
means  of  their  wear  and  tear. 

JSTow  coming  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Race  and 
Second  Street,  we  have  another  ante-revolutionary  relic, 
in  a  two-story  frame,  occupied  by  Cadet  Bergusse,  as  a 
fancy  trimming  and  jobbing  store;  theretofore,  by  Isaac 
Roush,  shopkeeper,  in  1795.  Proceeding  southward,  we 
have  a  certain  John  Rupp,  or  Roop,  a  shuster;  Philip 
Ile^d,  a  baker,  No.  106 ;  and  next,  ISTo.  104,  the  active 
and  highly  intelligent  Charles  Cist,  a  Russian  by  birth, 
of  St.  Petersburg,  a  printer,  more  by  occupation  than  by 
trade  ;  a  highly  educated  gentleman,  of  very  wirj'  motion, 
but  unmistakable  intellect.  Conrad  Zentler  afterwards 
occupied  the  premises,  and  thence  issued  the  far-famed 
German  Almanac,  with  its  motto,  "  Wir  leben  in  hoff- 
nung  besseren  zeiten;"*  heralded  bj^  an  angel  in  flight, 
with  a  trumpet  to  its  lips. 

Poor  man,  his  motto  outlived  and  mocked  his  hopes ; 
he  died  unsung  by  the  reality,  unwept  by  fortune,  but 
not  untold  by  fame.  He  was  as  notorious  for  his  love 
of  snuff,  as  he  was  for  the  proprietary  of  the  "  Amcri- 
kauislie  Kalendcr." 

*  We  live  ill  hope  of  better  times. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  239 

Mr.  Zentler,  by  industry  and  economy,  had  gathered  a 
moderate  competency  for  the  comforts  due  to  declining 
life  ;  and,  for  the  better  security  of  his  purpose,  invested 
it  all  in  United  States  Bank  stock ;  the  failure  of  which 
denuded  him  of  his  protective  mantle, — a  convincing 
evidence  that  "It  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct 
his  steps."     (Jeremiah  10  :  23.) 

Passing  Caspar  Graff,  Jun.,  tailor,  No.  100 ;  Abraham 
Steinberg,  shopkeeper,  ISTo.  98 — since,  the  famous  restau- 
rant of  James  Lecount — and  Daniel  Boehm,  grocer,  &c., 
at  96  ;  these — except  Lecount,  who  went  there  in  1835 — 
were  of  and  previous  to  1795. 

Here  we  come  to  our  present  Quarry  Street,*  obliter- 
ating every  vestige  of  domestic  scenes,  comforts,  or  con- 
veniences ;  but  history,  Time's  hand-maid,  gathers  up 
the  dust,  and  remoulds  the  very  large  three-story  brick 
mansion  and  residence  of  Thomas  Bartow — a  highly 
respectable  merchant  of  his  day,  1791 — and  probably  so 
early  as  1785,  at  the  time  of  his  active  and  efficient  ser- 
vices in  the  Moravian  Church,  and  fills  that  gap. 

In  1795,  it  was  the  centre  of  busier  scenes,  when 
George  Lesher's  stage-office  offisred  a  swiftsure  to  Beth- 
lehem;  and  his  "Jehus"  cracked  their  whips  or  blew 
their  horns  in  announcement  of  their  readiness,  or  as  a 
proud  earnest  of  their  speed  and  promptness ;  but  the 
tale  of  woe  came  after;  it  was  often  a  three  days' journey — 
now,  a  flio-ht  of  three  hours. 

*  Quarry  Street,  originally,  was  laid  out  and  opened  from  Third  Street, 
running  eastward  only  to  Moravian  Alley.  The  title  and  right  of  soil  of 
the  land  in  this  compass,  was  in  a  certain  Sarah  Quarry,  who,  in  1716, 
devised  it  by  will  to  certain  heirs;  the  derivative  of  Quarry  Street,  I  think, 
may  therefore  be  safely  traced  to  this  ownership. 


240  niSTOET   OF   THE    MORAYIAX   CUURCH 

Again  Ave  pass  tlie  mercantile  location  of  Josiali  "Wil- 
larcl  and  AYilliam  Gibbs,  and  the  dwelling  of  Josiali 
Willard  Gibbs,  probably  tlie  same  who  was  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  about  forty  years  ago,  as  J.  W.  Gibbs,  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Greenlcaf  Court,  now  Merchant 
Street,  in  Fourth  below  Market  Street. 

Here  we  come  to  a  pile  venerable  for  its  antiquity, 
respectable  for  its  appearance,  and  historical  for  its  ser- 
vices. 

This  was  a  two  story  double  front  brick  mansion,  par- 
lors or  rooms  at  each  side  of  the  hall,  or  front  entrance. 

The  house  was  set  some  six  or  eight  feet  from  the  line, 
and  the  lot  extended  from  Second  Street  to  Moravian 
Alley,  some  two  hundred  feet  in  depth,  and  was  the 
garden  of  the  mansion. 

Some  time  previous  to  1740,  it  was  occupied  by  the 
Governor  of  the  province. 

In  1742,  it  was  the  residence  of  John  Stephen  Beuezet, 
known  to  history  as  a  Huguenot  refugee. 

He  was  born  in  Abbeville,  France,  June  22d,  1683,  was 
the  father  of  James,  Philip,  Daniel,  and  Anthony  Benezet, 
(of  whom  Daniel  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Bartow,)  a 
gentleman  of  wealth,  and  carriage  convenience,  who, 
apprehensive  of  British  thirst  for  booty,  in  the  revolution- 
ary w^ar, — buried  his  silver  plate,  of  which  he  had  an 
abundance,  in  his  cellar,  and  threw  an  old  stove-plate 
over  the  secret,  which  guarded  it  till  danger  fled  with  its 
cause. 

Some  of  this  plate  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  grand- 
daughter, Mrs.  "Wm.  S.  Crothers,  of  this  city,  and  of  the 
Horsefield  family  of  Bethlehem. 

His  sou  Anthony,  was,  perhaps,  the  greatest  philanthro- 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  ^  241 

pist  of  the  age,  and  too  well  known  to  history  for  me 
to  attempt  to  illuminate.  He  had  chosen  the  Society  of 
Friends  for  his  religions  home,  and,  if  they  will  admit 
of  such  a  thing,  was  an  ornament  of  that  body. 

The  sire  of  this  issue,  John  Stephen,  was  a  member  ot 
Christ  Church,  whose  Prayer  Book  is  even  now  in  good 
preservation,  in  the  hands  of  his  generation  of  the  fourth 
part,  Wm.  S.  son  of  the  above-named  Mrs.  Crothers. 

I  am  thus  particular,  in  my  details  of  the  advent  and 
issues  of  this  gentleman,  because  of  his  hospitalities  to 
Zinzendorff,  his  evident  faith  in  his  creed  and  religious 
purposes,  and  his  furtherance  of  these  purposes,  in  open- 
ing his  doors  for  the  gatherings  and  religious  services  of 
his  little  band,  besides  entertaining  him  as  a  guest.  Mr. 
B.  had  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Peter  Boehler,  and 
his  efforts  in  London,  appreciated  their  operations,  and 
therefore,  advisedly  gave  to  Zinzendorff,  "  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship." 

De  Watteville  and  Whitfield  were  also  recipients  of  the 
rites  of  hospitality  at  his  hands.  He  must  have  been  a 
Christian  brother. 

Moreover,  as  matter  of  physiological  fact,  in  him  we 
have  the  germ  of  that  benevolence  which  appears  to 
have  been  perfected  in  his  son  Anthoii}',  and  which 
covered  poverty  and  discomfort  with  wide-spread  wings 
of  love,  and  efficient  human  sympathy ;  nor  do  I  mean  to 
confine  this  Christian  virtue  to  that  sphere,  seeing  that 
Mrs.  Sarah  Bartow,  niece  of  Anthony,  well  known  to  me 
in  my  youth,  was  of  a  like  spirit,  and  a  most  exemplary 
member  of  the  Moravian  Church.  "By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them;"  and  they  were  favorably  known,  from 
the  stem  even  to  the  outer  branches. 

16 


242  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

This  mansion,  ISTo.  90  Nortli  Second  Street,  was  occu- 
pied by  Jacob  Lawerswjler,  for  many  years  after.  He 
was  a  sugar  refiner,  more  tritely  called  in  those  days  a 
sugar  baker,  and  had  his  sugar  house  on  the  rear  of  his 
lot,  fronting  on  Moravian  Alley. 

The  east  side  of  Second  Street  has  lost  less  of  its 
identity  than  the  west  side,  seeing  that  north  of  Drinker's 
Alley  several  ancient  three-story  brick  houses  remain  ; 
and  even  south  of  it,  there  is  a  fair  show  of  old  times. 

But  there  was  a  thing  of  life,  living  and  being  in  an 
upper  appartment  of  a  house  near  Race  Street,  a  certain 
Ernest  L.  Bisch,  a  miser  of  note,  1793  to  1795. 

He  had — by  means  known  only  to  himself — accumu- 
lated a  great  deal  of  money,  utterly  useless,  except  for  its 
shine  upon  his  avarice,  and  its  nutritive  offerings  to  a 
most  depraved  and  ungodly  appetite  for  "filthy  lucre." 

He  went  forth  every  day,  and  returned  to  his  haunt 
at  eventide,  but  neither  food  nor  fuel  was  ever  known  to 
pass  his  threshold. 

But  "all  things  to  their  period  bend."  His  sortie 
ceased ;  the  snow  at  his  entrance  no  longer  bore  his 
impress;  curiosity  was  startled;  "wonder  grew;"  all  of 
which  combined,  smote  his  door,  and  the  secret  stared 
them  blank,  of  course,  in  the  face. 

Bisch  w^as  dead  on  the  stairs,  on  his  way  upwards,  with 
a  death-grasp  of  the  banisters  !  Dead  to  the  world  and 
all  his  heart  held  dear ! 

Report  told  of  coin,  gold  and  silver,  hid  in  every  nook, 
corner,  and  crevice  of  his  room.  Here,  then,  was  "  the 
love  of  money,  the  root  of  all  evil." 

IS'ext  above,  "William  Rogers,  a  very  clever  Irish  gentle- 
man, kept  a  grocery  store,  in  a  two-story  frame  building; 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  243 

and  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Race  and  Second,  a  Mrs. 
Iledricks  kept  a  boarding  house. 

Peter  Paris,  of  the  King  of  Prussia  tavern,  after  Mrs. 
Iledricks,  owned  and  occupied  the  house  as  a  private 
residence,  and  subsequently,  about  the  year  1802,  his 
son-in-law,  William  Spohn,  made  a  grocery  business 
stand  of  it,  and,  as  such,  furthered  his  occupation.* 

This  corner,  and  several  adjoining  houses,  have  been 
recently  torn  down;  and  even  now — April,  1857 — the 
vacancy  awaits  the  order  of  the  day. 

*  William  Spohn  had  been  of  the  firm  of  Hahn  &  Spohn,  who  had  been 
established  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Front  and  Arch  Streets ;  and,  in 
process  of  history,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  here,  that  this  corner  was 
formerly  the  counting-house  of  James  C.  &  Samuel  W.  Fisher,  which, 
with  several  of  the  neighboring  estates,  are  jet  in  the  possession  of  the 
Fisher  family. 


244  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  II. 

Continuance  of  Comparative  View  from  the  Southeast  Corner  of  Second 
and  Race  Street,  East  and  West  Side  of  Second,  to  New  Street,  and 
North  Side  of  Race  to  Third  Street. 

The  northeast  corner  of  Second  and  Eace  Street  was, 
perhaps,  originally  built  up  of  brick,  three  stories,  and, 
far  from  the  present  century,  occupied  by  Christian 
"Wirtz,  the  father-in-law  of  the  sire  of  the  present  genera- 
tion of  the  Wager  family,  Philip  AVager,  the  elder. 

'Hext  above,  also,  a  brick  house  was  the  starting-point 
of  Abraham  "VVilt,  the  elder,  in  the  oil  business. 

Next  above  this,  Mrs.  Desilver  and  her  sister.  Miss 
Jane  Owen,  kept  a  very  respectable  dry  goods  store, 
which  was  as  respectably  patronized. 

The  late  Henry  Kuhl,  assistant  cashier  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  1793,  afterwards  cashier  of  the  Farmers'  and 
Mechanics'  Bank,  occupied  the  next  three-story  brick, 
with  its  porch  in  front,  where  doubtless  he  often  enjoyed 
the  morning  air — and  the  evening  breeze,  a  comfort  now 
repudiated  by  the  refinement  of  the  age. 

The  next  house  was  a  frame,  occupied  by  Leonard 
Jacoby,  the  sire  of  the  survivors  of  that  family,  previous 
to  1793 ;  in  that  year  he  owned  and  occupied  the  corner, 
vacated  by  Mr.  "Wirtz,  and  there  successfully  pursued  his 
calling  of  shipping  merchant,  in  the  Dutch  and  German 


IN   PHILADELrillA.  245 

trade,  and  who,  after  business  honrs,  sat  "  ofium  cum  digni- 
tate^''  enjoying  his  "knaster"  inside  his  door,  through  the 
medium  of  a  very  long-shanked  German  pipe. 

A  French  boarding-house  was  next  adjoining.  After- 
wards, in  1801,  Mrs.  Catherine  Fisler  was  an  eminent 
hostess  in  the  same  place  and  occupation. 

Mrs.  Anna  Cook,  a  bonnet-maker  of  note,  and  her 
husband,  George  Cook,  no  less  so  as  a  tailor,  succeeded  a 
certain  Sebastian  White,  a  w^atchmaker,  in  the  occu- 
pancy of  the  next  house,  the  southeast  corner  of  Coates's 
Alley ;  at  the  northeast  corner,  John  Melbeck  held  forth 
as  a  merchant. 

From  Coates's  Alley  northward,  there  were  several 
frames  and  small-sized  three-story  brick  houses,  in  one 
of  which,  near  the  corner  of  Key's  Alley,  Joseph  Ilerzog 
began  the  grocery-  business,  and  at  the  southeast  corner 
of  Key's  Alley,  was  the  residence  of  the  late  Dr.  Ashbel 
Green,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  then  situated, 
with  a  very  handsome  steeple,  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Third  and  Arch  Streets. 

This  being  my  limit,  and  sufficient  for  the  diagraph  ot 
a  neighborhood,  I  shall  return  on  the  west  side,  and  lay 
off  that  ground,  with  its  possessions,  southward  to  Race 
Street,  as  near  as  possible. 

At,  or  near  the  corner  of  ISTew  Street,  was  the  office 
and  residence  of  John  Baker,  Esq.,  for  many  years  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  and,  a  few  doors  below,  a  certain 
George  Tryon,  a  tin-smith  and  copper-smith. 

Simmons's  board-yard  here  occupied  a  considerable 
space  on  Second  Street,  and  extended  through  to  Third 
Street.  George  Brown,  a  tobacconist  of  note  and  long 
standing,  exhibited  the  seductive  weed,  for  a  comfortable 


246  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

smoke,  next  below ;  whilst  the  Camel  Tavern  offered  the 
services  of  Henry  Huber  to  the  wayworn  traveller,  and 
its  spacious  conveniences  to  retirement  of  his  jaded  beast. 

This  ante-revolutionary  relic  is  still  the  existing  monu- 
ment of  its  own  fame. 

An  alley  or  passage  here  to  the  background  of  the 
tavern  splits  the  line. 

Hood  &  Wilson,  as  grocers,  start  at  this  south  corner, 
and  Philip  Wager  occupies  a  large  front  for  his  wine 
store  and  dwelling.  These  were  first  class  three-story  brick 
buildings  adjoining. 

Habacher,  a  partner  of  Mr.  "Wager,  fills  the  space  to  the 
yet  existing  Buck  Tavern,  kept  by  George  Hill.  The 
grounds  of  this  tavern  extended  through  to  Third  Street. 

David  Jones,  a  hatter,  made  up  the  corner  of  another 
passage  to  the  rear  of  Race  and  Third  Street  lots.  Mr. 
Jones  was  a  very  early  resident  of  that  neighborhood. 

On  the  southwest  corner  of  this  passage,  Edward  Ran- 
dolph, of  the  subsequent  firm  of  Coates  and  Randolph, 
kept  a  grocery  store;  and  next  below,  was  the  residence  of 
Parson  Hendel,  of  the  Dutch  Presbyterian  Church;  whose 
widow,  a  remarkably  kindly-mannered  old  ladj^,  and  her 
two  daughters,  kept  a  queen's-ware  store  in  the  same 
place,  for  many  years  after  his  decease. 

Jacob  Schreiner,  next  below,  could  tell  of  the  loss  or 
gain  of  the  hardware  business ;  whilst  his  neighbor, 
Bosbyshell,  could  light  up  the  vista  of  the  modus  operandi 
of  the  dry  goods  merchant's  arcade;  but  our  ancient 
friend,  Conrad  Gerhard,  a  baker,  in  those  days,  was  even 
more  appetital  in  his  issues,  since,  besides  the  general 
products  of  his  oven,  his  helpmeet  was  popularly  aufait 


IN    PIIILADELnilA.  247 

ill  the  science  of  cake-baking,  whose  never-to-be-for- 
gotten Moravian  sugar-cake  was  ever  and  anon  tooth- 
some to  tlie  most  fastidious  epicure. 

But  here,  too,  we  have  a  relisli  for  social  epicurianism 
in  the  person  and  character  of  a  certain  Tobias  Ilirte. 

This  specimen  of  the  olden  time  was  resident  in  the 
second  story  of  the  back  building  of  No.  118,  just  named. 

He  was  a  bachelor,  an  itinerant  apothecary,  a  hermit, 
or  a  cit,  as  fancy  or  convenience  might  suggest. 

His  itinerancy  was  not  limited  to  the  mere  disposing 
of  curatives,  nor  the  single  eye  to  gain.  He  was  fond  of 
travel.  "Liberty  and  independence  was  his  motto;"  and 
when  mounted  on  his  sorrel  mare,  with  saddle-bags  at 
each  side,  and  a  large  umbrella,  with  a  handle  of  unusual 
length,  on  the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  he  bestrode  the 
pinnacle  of  his  glory;  and  the  summer  season,  from  early 
spring,  opened  the  highway  to  this  enjoyment. 

Although  vending  his  compounds  as  he  passed  the 
route  of  his  search,  his  principal  object,  for  many  years, 
w^as  a  visit  to  the  Indians — Seneca,  and  several  other 
tribes — with  whom  he  was  on  the  most  sociable  terms, 
and  whose  chiefs  always  called  on  him,  at  his  hermitage 
in  Philadelphia,  when  they  came. 

Amongst  these  were  Cornplanter,  the  Seneca  Chief, 
and  his  associate.  Red  Jacket,  both  of  whom  I  have  seen 
in  his  room  in  Second  Street,  and  before  whom,  some 
sixty  years  ago,  perched  on  a  chair,  I  was  encouraged  to 
repeat  a  verse,  as  taught  me  by  this  noble  Indian,  begin- 
ning thus : 

Jesus  mil  u  ner,  Toma  Tima  na, 
Ipse  woolaa  den  a  waagen,  &c.  &c. 

Being  the  Seneca  version  of, 


248  HISTORY    OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

"  Jesus,  hear  our  prayer, 
Take  of  us  good  care,"  «&c. 

Coniplanter  was  a  noble  specimen  of  onr  race,  in  per- 
son and  purpose,  and  known  to  lii story  as  a  very  efficient 
aid  to  General  Wasliington.  He  died  on  tlie  7th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 183G,  on  the  Seneca  Reservation,  in  Pennsylvania, 
at  the  age  of  about  one  hundred  years. 

Thus  associated,  my  subject  was  facilitated  in  his 
gatherings  of  social,  as  well  as  pecuniary  wealth,  and  his 
sale  of  Seneca  oil  made  him  as  popular  as  his  details  of 
Indian  customs,  manners,  and  peculiarities;  the  special 
purpose  of  his  annual  visit  being  to  gather  or  purchase 
this  oil  from  the  Senecas. 

Although  an  itinerant,  he  was  not  without  homes, 
seeing  that  the  interim  of  his  travel  found  him  at — what 
he  called — his  country  seat,  in  Lebanon,  Pa.,  where  he 
cultivated  and  enjoyed  fruits  of  all  kinds,  and  the  most 
choice. 

Apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  apricots,  nectarines, 
watermelons,  and  cantelopes,  all  yielded  to  him  the 
most  grateful  sense  of  their  culture  and  existence,  and 
the  rise  and  progress  of  which  he  could  scan  from  the 
back  door  of  his  cabin,  as  he  rested  from  the  perusal  ot 
his  "  Aurora,"  a  Democratic  daily  paper  of  that  day,  and 
adjusted  his  "specs"  for  another  political  treat.  The 
approach  of  winter,  however,  dismantled  his  forest  of 
luxuries;  and  his  closed  doors,  shutting  out  all  nature, 
the  city  was  his  last  resort,  and  to  the  city  he  came  to 
make,  prepare,  decoct  and  concoct  cures  or  palliatives 
for  all  the  ills  common  to  man  ! 

Here,  in  a  room  of  about  ten  by  fifteen  feet,  sat  this 
veteran  in  nostrums,  picturesque  in  the  adornment  of  his 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  249 

walls  with  the  remains  of  a  music  store,  fiddles,  flutes, 
French  horns,  and  the  like ;  whilst  below,  in  one  corner, 
stood  an  old-timed  spinnet,  steadied  to  the  floor  by  a 
fifty-six  pound  weiglit  on  its  lid  or  top,  in  range  of  which 
sat  the  "lord  of  his  survey,"  at  a  table  either  redolent 
of  roast  goose,  apple-sauce,  &c.,  or  a  mass  of  pill-stufl"', 
or  other  medicament,  in  preparation  of  a  summer's  trip  ; 
whilst  behind  him  sat  a  boy,  bottling  or  boxing  curatives 
for  all  the  ills  of  human  inheritance,  spurred  to  speed  by 
the  promise  of  a  feast  of  coflfee  and  sugar-cake  at  the  end 
of  the  week.  In  front  stood  a  large  and  very  grand — as 
we  thought  in  those  days — mantle  clock;  but,  a  little 
beyond,  another,  of  more  importance  and  more  interest. 
This  was  a  musical  clock — a  great  curiosity ;  whose  Swiss 
peasantry,  in  a  recess  over  the  dial,  took  an  hourly  turn 
in  a  cosy  dance,  to  the  jingle  of  a  most  fascinating  set  ot 
well-tuned  bells;  gazed  and  wondered  at  by  the  Schuank- 
felders,  who  supplied  him  regularly  on  the  evenings  of 
Tuesday  and  Friday,  with  cream,  butter,  and  Dutch 
cheese ;  the  latter  always  most  popular  for  its  oflensive 
odor. 

lie  was  a  bachelor  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  his 
apartment  a  stranger  to  whisk  or  water.  His  habits  were 
unique.  lie  prepared  and  ate  his  breakfast  of  toast  and 
coflce,  at  about  10  a.m.  :  lunched  on  tea  and  toast,  or 
plain  bread  and  butter,  and  Dutch  cheese,  at  2  p.m.  ;  but 
dined  sumptuously  on  roast  pig  (which  he  called  "  span- 
ferkle"),  or  roast  goose,  with  no  small  amount  of  potatoes, 
apples,  cold-slaw,  bread  and  butter,  &c.,  settled  with  seve 
ral  glasses  of  good  Madeira,  at  about  11  o'clock  at  night, 
and  then  a  pipe ;  and  then,  despite  Homoeopathy,  if  all 
within  was  of  doubtful  temperament,  a  goodly  number  o 


250  HISTORY   OF   THE  MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

Von  Swieteii's  pills — a  composition  principally  of  aloes 
— were  sent  to  check  rebellion.  Yet  lie  killed  the  time 
of  near  one  hundred  years. 

In  his  room,  a  large  drab  great-coat  covered  the  imper- 
fections of  a  patch  on  his  trowsers,  or  a  modicum  of  snuff 
on  the  sleeves  or  the  bosom  of  his  shirt. 

Saving  his  choiceof  celibacy,  he  was  a  man  of  good  sound 
sense;  content  with  the  fruits  of  his  daily  labor,  which 
he  interspersed  with  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetical 
calculations  on  the  w^aste  of  time  by  minutes,  &c. ;  for 
the  rest,  his  maxim  was  to  eat  when  hungry,  drink  when 
thirsty,  and  sleep  when  weary;  and  so  he  did;  reserving 
the  latter,  however,  for  a  pillow-review  of  his  authorship, 
penned  whilst  the 

"  Drowsy  world  lay  lost  In  sleep, 
Or  nought  stirred  rudely  ;" 

for  he  seldom  retired  before  two  o'clock  in  the  morning ; 
nevertheless,  his  Sabbath  w\as  not  infringed  by  his  antici- 
pation of  its  earlier  hours,  but  on  the  contrary,  10  a.m. 
and  3  p.m.  found  him  in  his  chair  in  the  choir  of  the 
church,  which  his  pizzicato  and  fortenuto  very  soon  an- 
nounced; and  he  it  was,  on  whose  infirmity  compassion 
shone,  to  melt  his  infliction  in  a  compromise  of  brotherly 
forbearance. 

He  departed  this  life  in  the  month  of  April,  1833,  at 
what  he  was  wont  to  call  his  country  seat,  at  Lebanon,  Pa. 

Leaving  this  ancient  friend  and  his  Lidian  associates 
in  the  shades  of  their  final  rest,  but  with  a  respectful 
reminiscence  of  their  existence,  I  pass  on  to  the  line  of 
my  project,  and  present  the  next  in  order,  the  northwest 
corner  of  Second  and  Race  Streets. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  251 

This  lot  was  the  tavern  yard,  with  the  necessary  sup- 
ply of  sheds,  stables,  &c.,  appurtenant  to  a  hostelrie. 

This  property  was  purchased  by  the  sire,  Mr.  Abraham 
Wilt,  who  raised  the  corner  to  three  stories,  put  up  back 
buildings  on  Race  Street,  and  a  full-sized  three-story 
brick  house  and  store  on  the  vacant  lot  on  Second  Street, 
where  he  continued  and  ended  his  business  pursuits,  and 
built  for  his  retirement  the  present  three-story  brick 
house  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  corner  lot,  where  he  also 
finished  his  mortal  career. 

The  corner  was  occupied,  early  in  the  present  century, 
by  C.  Bernanos,  grocer,  and  afterwards  by  P.  M.  Lafour- 
cade,  a  printer. 

The  west  corner  of  the  four-feet  passage  just  described 
was  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Catharine  Roman,*  a  German 
gentlewoman,  of  kindly  suavity  of  manner. 

She  was  the  mother-in-law  of  the  late  Capt.  Daniel 
Man,  who  married  her  only  daughter,  but  who  died  at  a 
very  early  period  of  her  life. 

The  next  house  is  a  twin  to  the  one  below,  doubtless 
both  built  at  the  same  time,  and  far  in  the  last  century. 
It  was  the  book-bindery  of  John  R.  and  Godfrey  Baker. 

The  adjoining  wide  front  and  more  modern  style, 
covers  the  site  of  more  ancient  honors,  a  Friend's  school- 
house  once  having  dignified  the  spot,  and  perpetuated 
its  fame  and  its  identity  by  a  permanent  ground-rent,  a 
tribute  to  its  memory,  of  $144  per  annum,  payable  to  the 
Friend's  Society. 

*  This  old  lady  departed,  April  29th,  1812,  upwards  of  80  years  of  age. 
She  was  present  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  our  first  Moravian 
Church,  a  contemporary  of  Count  Zinzendorff,  and  heard  him  preach  in 
Germantown,  was  a  member  of  his  society,  and  lived  and  died  a  full  mem- 
ber of  the  Church.     (Extract  from  the  Church  Eegister.) 


252  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Matthias  Keely  occupied  the  new  house  for  several 
years  as  a  merchant ;  and  Mr.  John  R.  Baker  afterwards 
was  the  owner  and  occupant,  pursuing  the  German  trade 
and  the  sale  of  some  German  books.  John  Nicholas 
Seidel,  currier,  preceded  Mrs.  Barnes,  in  the  two-story 
blue  frame  above,  who  was  there,  for  many  years,  an  emi- 
nent bonnet-maker. 

A  one-story  building  yet  fills  the  next  lot,  once  said  to 
be  a  gambling  resort,  but  subsequently  respectably  appro- 
priated by  John  Jacob  Sommer,  well-known  to  the  Ger- 
man community  as  an  importer  of  German  linens;  a 
very  polite,  and,  at  that  time  (German),  bachelor. 

Now  passing  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  Piesch  and 
Mayerhofi:' — peace  to  their  memory,  a  clever  pair. — I  pass 
onwards,  and  a  one-story  frame  offers  its  claims  to  per- 
petuity, as  it  once  offered  its  services  to  the  building 
fraternity,  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Frank  Engles,  ironmonger. 
Old  Thomas  Williams,  a  very  venerable  and  commu- 
nicable Quaker  gentleman,  occupied  the  next  three-story 
brick  for  many  years,  and  prospered  there  in  his  busi- 
ness of  cabinet-making,  so  that  he  purchased  the  adjacent 
one-story  frame,  and  built  a  full-sized  three-story  brick 
on  the  lot. 

Mr.  Williams  was  born  and  brought  up  in  Fourth 
Street  near  Ranstead  Court,  then  called  Butter's  Alley, 
from  the,  perhaps,  earliest  tenant  of  that  locale^  George 
Rutter — more  properly,  however,  Ritter — that  being  the 
original  family  name. 

He  has  often  told  me  of  his  boyhood,  and  the  circum- 
scribed boundary  of  the  city,  in  his  early  day,  of  vacant 
lots,  from  the  head  of  the  court,  or  alley,  to  Fifth  Street, 
and  the  gathered  youth  there  imbibing  religious  instruc- 


IN    PIIILADELPHIA.  253 

tion  on  the  Sabbath,  or  venting  their  redundant  spirit  in 
juvenile  sports  on  week  liolidays. 

He  departed  this  life,  on  the  25th  day  of  February, 
1846,  in  the  83d  year  of  his  age. 

The  next  house,  a  two-story  brick,  was  the  dwelling  and 
cedar-coopering  establishment  of  Mr.  Jacob  Rees,  identi- 
fied by  time  and  occupation  with  that  neighborhood. 

Daniel  Zeller  exhibited  his  calling  as  grocer  in  the 
next  two-story  brick;  the  house  still  telling  of  long  life 
by  its  wrinkles,  its  rust,  and  its  waste. 

Next,  west  of  this,  there  were  two  very  old  red  frames, 
one  of  which  was  the  early  bread  bakery  of  Mv.  Jacob 
Churr,  probably  both. 

Mr,  Churr  afterwards  (1810)  occupied  and  continued 
his  business  in  the  three-story  brick,  next  west  of  the 
frames,  until  his  retirement.  He  is  still  living,  in  his 
90th  year,  and  in  very  good  health. 

In  1795,  the  property  was  occupied  by  Mclchior 
Steiner,  printer,  but  afterwards,  in  18j01,  it  was  the 
tavern  and  head-quarters  of  the  "  Tammany  Society," 
whence,  if  real  Indians  did  not  come,  they  were  made  to 
order,  of  which  the  host,  Valentine  Burkhardt,  furnished 
some  specimens  of  real  life ;  but  the  general  issue  from, 
that  centre  was  as  natural  as  a  veritable  Cherokee  or 
Choctaw,  and  vastly  interesting  to  us  young  folks. 

But  here,  adjacent,  we  have  certainly  an  ante-revolu- 
tionary structure ;  and,  doubtless,  a  contemporary  of 
Zinzendorif's  Moravian  Church. 

This  building  was  about  forty  feet  square,  two  and  a 
half  stories  high,  and  supposed  to  be  the  first  German 
Reformed  Church  in  this  city. 

It  was  purchased  and  altered  into  two  dwellings  by 


254  HISTOKY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 


Ball.      Philip  "Wager,  the  elder,  occupied  the  one 


as  a  biscuit  bakery ;  but  Mr.  John  R.  Baker  and  Godfrey 
Haga  afterwards  purchased  the  property,  and  raised  it  to 
three  stories,  as  it  now  stands,  and  lived  in  it.  It  was, 
however,  previously  appropriated  to  the  vile  purposes  of 
a  gambling-house. 

The  evidence  of  this  original  fixture  is  first  the  two 
feet  front  and  back  walls,  yet  standing,  and  the  large 
door  and  massive  key  once  in  the  actual  possession  of 
Mr.  John  R.  Baker,  besides  the  traditionary  revelations 
of  our  fathers. 

Our  old  and  respectable  townsman,  John  Singer,  occu- 
pied the  next. 

Jacob  Lawerswyler  owned  the  next ;  and  the  late 
Lewis  Rush  exhibited  the  evidence  of  his  profession,  as 
skin-dresser,  by  a  sheet  of  parchment  from  the  third 
house. 

The  three  houses  yet  stand  against  the  waywardness  of 
modern  fancy.  . 

The  northeast  corner  of  Third  and  Race  Streets  an  old 
time  two  and  three-quarter  storied  brick  building,  with 
hip,  or  broken  roof,  belonged  to  the  Coates  family,  and 
was  occupied  by  Thomas  Coates,  the  sire  of  that  genera- 
tion, as  a  grocery  store. 

These  details  show  up  Race  Street,  from  Second  to 
Third  Street,  a  highly  respectable  business  location,  quite 
equal  to  Market  Street,  in  that  early  day.  It  lapsed  for  a 
time,  but  now  again  seems  to  be  recuperating.  We 
must,  however,  turn  the  corner,  and  call  up  the  manes  of 
thinofs  that  were  in  that  direction. 


m   PHILADELPHIA.  255. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Review  of  Third  Street,  from  Race  Street,  northward,  to  New  Street,  East 
Side  ;  and  West  Side,  southward,  to  Race  Street. 

Leaving  Coatcs's  grocery  at  the  corner,  we  pass  several 
small-sized  tliree-story  brick  dwellings,  old,  rusty,  and 
original ;  tlie  two  northernmost  yet  standing,  one  of 
which  was  occupied  by  a  certain  INIary  Sellers,  widow,  a 
schoolmistress;  the  other  by  Nicholas  Coleman,  a  baker ; 
afterwards  by  Mrs.  Weiss,  whose  mart  for  gingerbread, 
candies,  &c.,  was  a  toothsome  temptation  to  the  hot  penny 
of  neighboring  and  passing  children  ;  they  are  still  there. 
An  eleven-feet  passage  here  divides  the  line,  placing  two 
other  tenements,  of  like  kith  and  kin,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  passage ;  but  these  have  long  since  given  way  and 
place  to  the  wholesale  grocery  house  of  Messrs.  Jordan 
&  Brother,  the  successors  of  the  next  in  order. 

Here,  No.  123,  marks  the  choice  spot  of  the  late  God- 
frey Haga,  for  the  erection  of  a  store  and  mansion  of  1792. 
A  very  spacious,  first  class,  three-stor^^  brick  building- 
adorned  this  neighborhood;  for,  by  comparison,  it  was 
by  far  the  most  extensive  arrangement  for  business,  as 
well  as  domestic  accommodations,  in  that  square,  i.  c, 
Third  from  Race  to  Vine  Streets. 

The  lot  was  thirty-four  feet  in  front,  a  part  of  which 
was  an  arched  and  paved  cartway,  to  appropriate  back 
stores,  over  which  the  upper  part  of  the  building  extended. 


256  HISTORY  or  the  Moravian  church 

The  firm  of  Boiler  &  Jordan,  grocers,  opened  here,  and 
continued  till  the  death  of  Frederick  Boiler,  in  1802,  dis- 
solved the  partnership ;  and  the  business  was  continued 
by  Mr.  Jordan,  afterwards,  in  association  with  Samuel 
"Worman,  under  the  firm  of  Jordan  &  Worman ;  and  sub- 
sequently, until  the  maturity  of  his  sons,  by  Mr.  Jordan 
alone. 

The  dwelling  part  of  this  building  was  the  domicile  of 
]Mr.  J.  Jordan  until  1845,  when  the  frost  of  many  winters 
bore  down  ambition,  and  silenced  the  spirit  that  erewhile 
gave  life  and  tone  to  earlier  scenes.  The  germ,  however, 
sprouted,  and  the  rising  generation  of  his  house,  in  suc- 
cessful operation,  meeting  the  exigencies  of  the  times, 
laid  waste  the  gatherings  of  the  last  century,  and  spread 
their  card  of  invitation  to  popular  fancy  in  more  modern 
form  ;  where,  even  now,  hardware,  crockery,  kc.  &c.,  are 
ofi:ered  for  sale,  instead  of  sugar,  cofiee,  tea,  &;c.  kc. 

The  lot  adjoining  the  old  house  and  store,  was  the 
rear  end  of  the  Buck  Tavern  lot,  and  was  occupied  by 
D.  Zeller,  with  its  very  old  frame  covering  of  his  fish,  grind- 
stones, &c. 

In  1816,  this  frame  gave  place  to  a  full-sized  three-story 
brick  house,  put  up  by  Mark  Richards,  who  removed 
there  from  the  opposite  (southwest)  corner  of  Branch 
Street,  and  continued  his  trade  in  bar  and  pig  iron;  and 
where,  also,  originated  his  private  banking,  and  the  issue 
of  his  tickets  for  small  change,  from  6J  cents  to  $3. 

From  this   point,   northward,   several  of  the    original 

buildings  remain.   But  the  original  Eagle  Tavern,  with  its 

black-headers,  has  long  since  passed  to  the  shades,  and 

remoulded  to  suit  the  fancy  of  modern  requirements. 

In  1795,  it  was  kept  by  a  certain  John  Bisbing;  after- 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  257 

wards  by  Henry  Haines,  the  owner  of  it,  and  several  of 
the  adjoining  properties. 

The  west  end  of  Simmons's  hoard-yard  here  occupied 
considerable  space — now  extensively  and  very  handsomely 
improved  by  several  capacious  four-story  stores. 

Next  above  the  then  board-yard,  we  have  two  three- 
story  brick  houses,  of  1780,  built  by  Thomas  Hockley,  a 
miller,  and  Samuel  Garragues,  a  builder. 

Mrs.  Hockley,  his  widow,  and  her  son-in-law,  Josiah 
Twamly,  of  the  firm  of  Eoberts  &  Twamly,  No.  80 
Market  Street,  and  the  widow  Twamly,  were  successive 
residents  in  the  corner  house,  until  within  a  few  years. 
They  were  all  members  of  Christ  Church,  and  highly 
respectable  from  sire  to  scion.  The  property  remained  in 
the  family  until  very  recently,  when  it — the  corner — was 
sold  for  $13,000.  Its  domestic  scenes  and  comforts  had 
long  since  been  usurped  by  gunny-bags  and  sugar-hogs- 
heads for  the  supply  of  the  pantries  of  other  domains. 

In  passing  down  the  west  side  of  Third  from  Kew 
Street,  many  of  the  old  buildings  remain,  and  occupan- 
cies, little  varied  from  the  present  time,  saving  and 
excepting  alterations,  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  extended 
trade  ;  else  hatters,  shoemakers,  shop-keepers,  merchants, 
and  the  sea-captain,  Casper  Foulke,  as  well  as  Andrew 
Bush,  the  shoemaker  of  our  early  day,  all  flourished 
there,  but  the  corner  was  the  key  of  knowledge,  in  the 
hands  of  Joseph  Yerkes,  a  schoolmaster  of  and  previous 
to  1791,  since  occupied  by  Israel  Eoberts,  coppersmith. 

The  southwest  comer  of  Third  and  Branch,  was  the 
grocery  store  of  Philip  Dick,  afterwards  by  Mark  Rich- 
ards, before  he  built  on  the  opposite  side  of  Third  Street. 

17 


258  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Dr.  Ashbel  Green  also  was  resident  next  below,  before 
he  lived  in  Second  Street.  (See  Chapter  II). 

Mrs.  Sarah,  widow  of  Thomas  Bartow,  occupied  the 
most  modern  house  of  the  row,  and  her  widowed  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Mary  Peter,  continued  there  until  the  bustle  of 
business  life  suggested  a  more  retired  domicile. 

Isaac  Wampole,  a  scrivener,  preceded  our  well-known 
townsman  and  alderman,  John  Geyer,  Esq. ;  and  John 
Hay,  proprietor  of  the  old  Rotterdam  Inn,  was  a  fixture 
of  1791,  where  the  same  inducement  is  still  offered  for 
the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  man  and  horse,  with 
its  open  way  to  the  sheds  and  stables,  appurtenant  to  the 
establishment.  The  corner  was  an  old-time  three-story 
brick,  with  hip  roof  and  gable  on  Third  Street,  and  lot 
extending  to  the  south  line  of  the  above  passage. 

It  was  occupied  in  1795  by  Charles  Erdman,  an  inter- 
preter and  land  broker,  but  for  many  years  afterwards 
by  Jacob  Mayland,  as  a  segar  manufactory  and  tobacco 
warehouse.  There  was  originally  a  shoemaker-shop  on 
the  rear  end  of  this  lot,  kept  by  Peter  Waggoner,  so  early 
as  1791,  at  or  before  Erdman's  time. 

Excepting  the  "  Old  Rotterdam,"  and  one  or  two  origi- 
nals next  above  this  line,  from  Race  to  Branch  Streets 
is  lost  in  modern  attire,  and  knows  itself  no  more. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  259 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Race  above  Third — White  Swan — German  Reformed  Church — Rlffert's 
Tavern — John  Warder,  &c. — Third  below  Race — Christian  Denckla, 
Conrad  Weckerly,  Frederick  Bealer,  Andrew  Leiuau,  John  Hejler 
Jacob  Mayland,  Philip  S.  Banting. 

Reminiscence  and  data  together  lead  me  around  this 
corner  of  Third  Street,  to  gather  and  review  some  of  the 
earlier  life  of  that  avenue  to  or  near  to  Fourth  Street. 

There  appears  to  have  been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers, 
a  penchant  for  foreign  taste,  fancy,  and  fashion,  seeing 
that  they  too  had  their  French  hatters,  French  shoe- 
makers, French  boarding-houses,  French  bathing-houses, 
French  tailors,  French  brokers,  Freucli  baker,  French 
hair-dresser,  and,  in  a  word,  a  la  mode  de  Paris  was 
enacted  at  all  points ;  and  here  on  our  right  hand  we 
have  a  certain  Charles  Carri,  a  French  tailor,  and  a  few 
doors  above  him,  John  Anthony  and  John  Baptist  Mas- 
sieu  offer  the  luxuries  of  a  French  bathing-house,  and 
for  aught  we  know,  a  French  barber,  may  have  preceded 
Jacob  Sink,  or  succeeded  him,  at  No.  105,  a  spot  ever 
memorable  and  select  for  a  barber's  shop ;  but  this  Ko. 
105  is  absorbed  in  the  present  new  corner,  and  107  ex- 
hibits the  striped  pole  appurtenant  to  the  profession. 

The  very  respectable  mansion,  about  midway  in  the 


260  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CnURCII 

square,  No.  117,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Mr.  John 
Bacon,  is  a  fixture  of  1786,  and  was  occupied,  up  to  1793, 
by  Henry  Epply  as  a  tavern  and  keeper  of  liorses  and 
cliairs. 

It  was  a  centre  of  tone  and  ton.  The  first  city  dancing 
assembly  met  here  on  the  "  liglit  fantastic  toe,"  patronized 
by  the  late  Mrs.  Wm.  Bingham. 

General  Washington  met  his  companions  in  arms  here, 
whilst  our  Indian  Seneca  chief,  Cornplanter,  and  his 
vivacious  son,  mingled  with  these  survivors  of  battle,  and 
welcomed  as  their  guest  and  ally  the  recently  unfor- 
tunate Louis  Philippe. 

In  1795,  it  was  the  residence  of  William  Nichols, 
Marshal  for  the  District  of  Pennsylvania,  and  about  the 
year  1803-5,  became  the  property  and  domicile  of  Mr. 
John  Warder,  whose  good  lady  had  a  soup  society  of  her 
own,  preparing  that  comfort,  and  distributing  it  to  the 
poor,  once  a  week,  gratis. 

The  adjoining  lot  west  v^as  occupied  by  a  frame  tene- 
ment, in  which  Cornplanter  and  his  son  had  their  apart- 
ment, in  Epply's  time. 

Mr.  Bacon,  the  present  owner  of  the  mansion,  has 
given  life  to  the  spot  for  fifty-one  j^ears. 

A  little  west  of  this,  ISTo.  131  and  132  fill  the  space  of 
the  hostelrie  of  Isaac  Rich  and  tlie  widov;  Winckhouse. 
The  tavern  was  last  kept  by Rifterts,  It  had  an  ex- 
tensive rear  carriage-way  from  Pace  Street. 

The  odor  of  molasses  candy,  in  all  the  phases  of  Stro- 
deck's  science,  now  perfumes  the  atmosphere  that  ere- 
while  touched  the  olfactories  with  the  pungent  exhala- 
tions from  Doctor  Budd's  apothecary  shop,  next  above, 
which,  in  earlier  times,  was  the  domicile  of  Thomas  Alii- 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  261 

bone,  the  fatlier-in-law  of  Doctor  Budd; — a  respectable 
mansion,  and  most  respectably  tenanted. 

Vis  a  vis  J  we  have  the  old  German  Reformed  Church, 
the  pastorate,  in  1795,  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hendel,  afterwards 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  IleltFenstein,  &c. 

It  was  built  on  the  line  of  the  pavement,  ninety  feet  on 
Race  Street  by  sixty-five  feet  deep.  The  front  on  Race 
Street  had  doors  of  entrance  near  the  east  and  west 
boundaries,  and  corresponding  conveniences  of  egress 
and  ingress  in  the  opposite  or  southern  wall. 

The  pedestal  pulpit  was  at  the  centre  of  the  south  wall, 
the  long  side  of  the  church ;  and  the  organ,  a  dignified 
afiair,  and  monument  of  Tannenberg's  skill,  answered 
from  its  elevation — at  the  touch  of  a  junior  Rev.  Beebig- 
haus — the  commands  of  the  venerable  pastor. 

The  building  has  passed  to  the  world  of  atoms,  but 
again  remoulded  on  the  rear  of  the  same  lot,  retired  from 
the  increased  noise  of  the  street. 

Except  the  renewed  corner  of  Sterling  Alley,  antiquity 
holds  its  own  down  to  the  "White  Swan  Tavern  ;"  this, 
too,  has  been  rebuilt,  and  its  tenants  over  and  often 
renewed ;  but  it  was  probably  the  starting-point  of 
George  Yohe,  who  was  there  in  1797  or  1800,  and  after- 
wards famous,  through  his  second  wife,  Catharine,  in  the 
annals  of  hotel-keeping,  for  her  attraction  of  the  mercan- 
tile community,  for  whom  she  formed  a  centre  by  her 
location,  a  very  hive  for  the  country  merchants ;  and  her 
memorabilia  will  long  live  in  the  manes  of  the  Washing- 
ton Hotel,  in  Fourth,  near  Market,  west  side  (William 
Chancellor's  house),  the  Western  Hotel,  Market  below 
Ninth,  south  side,  and  her  final  enterprise  in  the  purchase 
of  three  houses  on  the  south  side  of  Chestnut  Street,  above 


262  nisTORY  OF  the  Moravian  cnuRCH 

Sixth,  and  exemplifying  li-er  ability  by  converting  tliem 
into  a  large — perhaps  the  largest — hotel  in  the  city,  at 
the  time.  The  influence  of  her  success  created  a  vastly 
profitable  atmosphere  for  the  mart  of  her  gathering. 

But  to  return.  The  Swan  still  marks  the  spot,  and  the 
original  _  stage-office  next  below,  with  its  arched  way  to 
the  stables  in  the  rear,  yet  tells  of  yawning  candidates 
for  a  seat  in  the  Bethlehem  and  Easton  stages  at  4,  and 
sometimes,  when  roads  were  deep,  even  at  1  o'clock  in 
the  morning ;  and  thence,  sometimes,  till  10  o'clock  at 
night  (only  twenty  years  ago)  to  the  place  of  destination. 

The  southwest  corner  of  Third  and  Race  was  the  pro- 
perty of  Conrad  "Weckerly,  who  kept  store  in  the  rear, 
on  Race  Street,  and  whose  refractory  queue,  popping  from 
beneath  the  collar  of  his  coat,  in  which  his  head  was  well- 
nigh  lost,  betrayed  its  owner,  as  well  as  the  front  that 
claimed  it. 

There  were  three  three -story,  small- sized  brick  houses, 
forming  this  Third  Street  line.  In  one  of  these,  our 
respectable  old  German  friend.  Christian  H.  Denckla, 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  handsome  fortune,  from  the 
result  of  his  industry  in  the  prosecution  of  his  business 
as  an  importer  and  vender  of  ISTliremberg  and  other  Ger- 
man goods. 

A  few  doors  below  this,  there  was  a  hut  of  ancient  date 
— a  one-story  red  frame — hugged  in  by  houses  of  larger 
growth  on  either  side.  This  cabin  was  the  hermitage  of 
Frederick  Beates,  who,  in  his  elbow-chair — as  one  item — 
might  ever  and  anon  be  seen  before  his  table,  at  the  back 
window,  diving  into  the  mysteries  of  the  past  for  rights, 
titles,  and  interests ;    for  the  perfection  of  wills,  deeds. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  263 

bonds,  mortgages,  and  other  writings,  as  tliey  presented 
their  claims  to  his  professional  acumen. 

Mr.  Beates  was  an  old-time  scrivener,  very  determined 
in  his  conclusions,  and  unimpeachably  correct  in  his  pro- 
fessional judgment.  His  services  were  always  desirable, 
but  not  always  attainable.  The  integrity  of  his  client  was 
vastly  important  to  the  enlistment  of  his  attention ;  and 
whether  he  would  or  would  not,  depended  much  upon 
the  bland  and  unequivocal  offerings  to  his  measure  of 
integrity. 

He  was  the  scrivener  of  his  day ;  moderate  and  merciful 
in  his  demands,  charitable  to  the  incompetent,  and  kindly 
free  in  his  advice. 

His  early  sanctum  was  sold  to  "Wm.  B.  Scull,  and  the 
site  improved,  and  is  now  occupied  by  Spang  &  Wallace. 
He  moved  thence  into  a  small  two-story  brick,  one  or  two 
doors  below,  where,  in  common  parlance — by  accident — 
he  closed  his  useful  and  very  popular  career. 

Industry,  perseverance,  and  integrity,  were  cardinal 
virtues  witb  Mr.  Beates,  whilst  truthful  certainty  was  the 
pride  of  his  profession. 

In  pursuance  of  this  desideratum — 

"  When  all  wei'e  gone, 
And  nought  stirred  rudely," 

he  drew  upon  the  midnight  oil  to  light  his  way  to  the 
secrets  of  law  and  musty  parchments.  But  "all  things  to 
their  period  tend."  On  the  night  of  the  9th  of  December, 
1841,  enfeebled  by  the  wear  and  tear  of  time,  he  fell  a 
victim  to  his  ambition  ;  and  the  flame  that  lit  it,  on  this 
unpropitious   occasion,  also  extinguished  it  by  its  con- 


264  HISTOKY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Bumlng  contact,  and  set  at  noiiglit  his  wonted  powers 
of  resistance. 

He  lingered  a  few  days;  departed  on  the  14tli,  and 
was  interred  in  tlie  German  Lutheran  Burial-ground,  on 
the  16th  of  December,  1841,  in  his  80th  year.  He  had 
been  a  resident  of  this  neighborhood  upwards  of  sixty 
years. 

Returning  northward,  on  the  east  side  of  Third  Street, 
we  have  Andrew  Leinau's  hatting  establishment,  in 
1795,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Quarry  Street ;  and  a 
little  beyond,  at  No.  107,  our  ancient  and  modern  friend, 
too,  Mr.  John  Heyler,  whose  friendly  good  a  mornen 
saluted  many  a  consumer  of  silk  stockings,  silk  caps,  oil 
cloths,  &c.,  at  his  door  or  counter,  and  begat  for  him  a 
profitable  reputation,  even  unto  the  thirteenth  or  four- 
teenth year  of  the  present  century. 

Here,  in  this  region,  a  traditionary  anecdote  seems  to 
belong  to  its  history. 

The  husband  of  a  certain  Mrs.  L departed  this  life, 

after  a  very  short  illness.  The  old  lady,  taken  by  surprise, 
and  having  passed  a  long  life  without  any  previous  like 
affliction,  was  inconsolable,  and  at  his  lifeless  side  cried 
aloud,  "  George  !  George  !"  as  if  to  wake  him.  On  being 
remonstrated  with  by  a  friend,  she  replied,  "0  my ! 
0  my  !  I  never  saw  Mm  so  before  .'" 

Passing  this  digression,  we  note  the  starting-point  of 
Jacob  Mayland,  tobacconist,  who  afterwards,  for  many 
years,  was  the  active  and  efficient  proprietor  of  the  store, 
northwest  corner  of  Third  and  Race,  already  noted. 

The  two-story  frame,  hedged  in  by  grindstones  on  its 
outer  walls,  but  full  fledged,  in  its  inner,  with  sugar, 
cofiee,  tea,  &c.,  all  the  important  appendages  of  a  grocery 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  265 

store,  kept  by  Philip  S.  Bunting,  1793,  made  up  the 
southeast  corner. 

This  row,  from  Quarry  to  Eace,  has  but  one  specimen 
of  the  olden  time  remaining,  a  single  wrinkle  of  the  face 
that  once  identified  the  spot. 

Returning  from  this  corner  down  the  south  side  of 
Race,  to  our  place  of  beginning,  the  tooth  of  time  yet 
marks  its  prey,  presenting,  for  the  most  part,  the  facade 
of  nearly  one  hundred  years'  wear  and  tear;  but  Mr. 
William  Wood  pursues  his  calling  of  tailor,  in  connection 
with  his  gentlemen's  furnishing  establishment,  on  or 
next  below  the  spot  of  his  birth  and  the  homestead  of 
his  parents,  of  the  last  century.  Nos.  90  and  92,  marked 
these  possessions. 

Anthony  Vitry,  an  unassuming  little  Frenchman,  of 
very  measured  pace,  exhibited  epaulets  and  other 
military  ornaments  at  the  window  of  No.  88.  A  certain 
E.  P.  Aublay,  a  French  citizen,  occupied  the  premises 
before. 

Passing  Elizabeth  Neelan,  a  shopkeeper,  at  No.  86,  we 
come  to  the  present  Green  House,  a  tavern,  and  call  to 
mind  an  earlier  and  vastly  uneasy  spirit,  who  paced  the 
pave,  under  the  windows  of  the  parlor,  the  width  of  the 
front,  to  and  fro,  all  day,  and  every  day,  for  several  years, 
a  segar  alone  being  his  constant  boon  companion. 

Seth  Robinson  had  been  a  sailor,  and  perhaps,  under 
illusion,  continued  to  walk  the  deck  of  his  bark. 

His  family  were  occupants  here  of  the  last  century. 

Joanna  Gravenstine  perfumed  the  atmosphere  with  the 
odor  of  oranges,  lemons,  and  the  savory  luxuries  of  the 
Torrid  Zone. 


266  HISTORY    OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Two  boarding-liousea  adjoining  complete  the  line  to 
Moravian  Alley. 

But  the  memory  of  our  present  respectable  friend  and 
citizen,  Jacob  Fritz,  is  a  ray  of  the  Revolution,  and  the 
key  of  that  block,  seeing  that  his  father,  John  Fritz,  was 
resident  at  that  corner,  in  1780,  in  the  same  house,  the 
shoulder  of  the  square. 

]Mr.  Jacob  Fritz  is  now  in  his  eightieth  year ;  a  good 
sample  of  industry  and  steady  habits,  a  gentleman  of  the 
old  school. 

His  father,  John  Fritz,  was  the  pioneer  publican  of 
'No.  85,  on  the  opposite  side,  afterwards  successively 
continued  by  Rifferts  &  Burkhardt,  and  till  very  recently 
by  Mr.  Jacob  Churr,  baker. 

In  the  early  part,  and  for  many  years,  of  this  century, 
this  corner  of  Moravian  Alley  was  occupied  by  John 
Stow,  a  tinner,  whose  shop  was  in  the  rear,  fronting  on 
the  alley. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  267 

t 


COi^CLUSIOK 

A  Stray  Chapter,  comprising  a  View  from  Second  to  Front  Streets,  and  a 
Review  of  Second,  from  Drinker's  Alley  to  Arch  Street,  East  and  West 
Side,  with  Sketches  of  Character  of  some  of  the  Life  of  that  Section. 

Although  the  volume  miglit  have  closed  witli  the  last 
chapter,  recollections  seem  to  forbid  the  truce,  and  appeal 
to  patience  for  a  further  hearing,  which  may  not  be  alto- 
gether uninteresting  to  the  present,  as  well  as  to  future 
generations. 

The  sunken  cities  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  have 
been,  and  are  even  yet  being  explored,  and  the  cement  of 
Vesuvius  mined,  over  all  its  fatal  embrace,  to  discover  the 
march  of  mind  of  their  day ;  nor  life,  limb,  health,  and 
wealth,  are  ever  a  consideration  for  the  desideratum.  -N'ow, 
although  our  city  may  not  be  subject  to  a  like  catastrophe, 
her  vast  domains  must  evaporate,  in  fractions,  to  oblivion 
unexplorable,  but  for  the  gathering  of  its  parts  by  anti- 
quarian spirits,  as  time  and  circumstances  remove  its 
identity.  With  this  view  of  both  ends  of  time,  the  impetus 
of  recollection  is  irresistible,  and  the  neighborhood  of  the 
old  Church  seems  to  claim  a  further  development. 

Taking,  therefore,  another  turn,  and  leaving  the  north- 
east corner  of  Second  and  Race  Streets,  eastward,  there 
are  yet  two  three- story  old-style  brick  houses,  in  one  of 
which — early    in    the    present  century — lived   Dr.   John 


268  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Perkiu,  and  in  the  other,  Mr.  Andrew  Fenton,  a  very 
popular  ladies'  shoemaker. 

Jackson's  Court  here  broke  the  line,  and  ran  northward 
to  or  near  Brooks's  Court,  which  opened  on  Front  above 
Eace  Street. 

This  passage,  with  an  old  frame  on  the  lower  corner, 
was  purchased  by  the  late  Capt.  Daniel  Man,  and  im- 
proved by  him,  by  a  large  three-story  brick  mansion,  with 
side-lot,  gate,  garden,  and  counting-house  in  the  rear, 
whose  walls,  could  they  speak,  might  echo  instructions  to 
the  unwary  dealer  in  discounts  and  deposits,  and  "  teach 
the  young  idea  how  to  shoot." 

This  mansion  is  now  the  resort  for  hunger  and  thirst 
of  a  different  sort ;  and  a  restaurant  and  lager  beer  saloon 
absorbs  what  else  was  gathered  on  that  spot. 

For  the  rest,  the  face  of  this  row  has  been  but  slightly 
altered.  The  residences  of  Abraham  Woglom,  brick- 
layer, John  Willis,  clerk  in  the  Navy  Agency  of  the  late 
George  Harrison,  Dr.  Glentworth,  Capt.  Hedelius,  Capt. 
Strong,  Andrew  Simmons,  a  silversmith,  and  some  half 
dozen  other  respectable  two-story  brick  specimens  of  the 
olden  time,  still  identify  the  spot  of  their  former  tenants. 

The  south  side  of  this  square  has  paid  a  heavier  tribute 
to  modern  fancy.  The  counting-houses  and  domiciles  of 
J.  B.  Foussat  and  John  F.  Dumas,  vis-d-vis  Capt.  Man, 
with  their  busy  tenants,  have  passed  Time's  ordeal,  and 
their  memory  also  lost. 

The  retired  cabin,  a  two-story  frame,  with  its  sombre 
pent-house,  some  sixty  feet,  back  from  the  line,  with  its 
well-arranged  garden,  flanked  by  a  foot-path  neatly  and 
mechanically  set  with  clam-shells,  once  the  comfortable 
quarters  of  the  late  Capt.  Stevens,  is  now  superseded  by 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  269 

No.  26,  and  not  a  shadow  left  of  such  an  existence;  whilst 
the  compounding  of  simples,  and  the  gentle  tones  of  the 
pestle  and  mortar  of  Jesse  Thomson, — midway  in  the 
square,  at  the  lower  corner  of  a  court — still  extant,  no 
longer  offers  its  services  to  the  invalid,  or  its  curative 
to  the  hastened  messenger  from  the  threatened  chamber. 
They  are  gone,  though  they  j 

"Haunt  me  still,  though  many  a  year  has  fled, 
Like  some  ■wild  melody." 

But,  no  thanks  to  this  "wild  melody"  for  some  digni- 
fied representatives  of  the  olden  time  there  are  yet  several 
relics  froAvning  upon  modern  intrusion,  in  some  half- 
dozen  fixtures,  though  darkened,  yet  strengthened  by  the 
blasts  of  near  a  century's  powers,  looking  askance  at 
their  neighbors,  and  claiming  the  honors  due  to  lon- 
gevity. 

This  sketch  of  the  early  appearance  of  the  environs  of 
the  original  Moravian  Church,  is  no  less  interesting  for 
its  traditionary  and  mnemonic  gatherings  than  for  its 
facts  and  data ;  yet,  errors  excepted,  it  is  entitled  to 
credit ;  because  the  disruption  of  landmarks,  the  lack  of 
observation  in  some  of  our  contemporaries,  and  the  failure 
of  memory  in  others,  throw  us  upon  our  own  resources ; 
whilst  remembrance  must  be  courted  for  its  treasures, 
either  in  our  own,  or  the  fastnesses  of  the  few  octogen- 
arians of  antiquarian  wealth,  even  yet  rejuvenating  in  the 
verdure  of  youthful  recollections ;  and  but  for  such,  the 
knowledge  of  the  creation  itself  would  have  been  lost  to 
mortal  ken. 

If,  therefore,  my  resources  have  played  me  false  in  dots 
or  lines,  the  facts  remain,  and  history  has  its  tribute  ;  for. 


270  HISTORY   OF   THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

depend  upon  it,  reader,  altliougli  the  last  hundred  years 
have  not  entirely  swept  the  course  of  this  localie,  the  next 
fifty  will  not  leave  "  one  stone  upon  another"  of  its  pre- 
sent possessions. 

But  to  carry  out  my  plan,  I  must  return  to  Second 
Street,  and  call  up  the  various  links  of  the  line  from 
Lawerswyler's  to  Arch  Street,  and  back  on  the  east  side 
to  Drinker's  Alley. 

Morris's  Brewery  is  of  ante-revolutionary  origin,  and 
here  presents  itself  as  Ko.  86. 

The  lot  was  originally  granted  hy  "William  Penn  to 
Richard  Warroll,  in  1684,  for  the  consideration  of  two 
shillings  sterling,  per  annum;  it  was  fifty-five  feet  on 
Second  Street  by  three  hundred  feet  deep,  extending 
across  Moravian  Alley,  not  then  opened. 

In  1741,  it  was  conveyed  to  Anthony  Morris,  and 
remained  in  that  family  upwards  of  one  hundred  years, 
and  until  the  enterprise  of  our  townsman,  Robert 
I^ewlin,  made  him  successor,  not  only  in  the  business, 
but  in  the  absolute  ownership  of  the  estate. 

Mr.  ISTewlin  purchased  the  estate  in  September,  1848, 
and  by  indomitable  perseverance  has  accumulated  a  large 
fortune,  together  with  an  enviable  reputation  for  the 
skill,  the  tact,  and  the  talent,  and  ^'Jiat  justitia  mat 
ccelu77i,"  the  pleasant  open  manner  that  always  wins  more 
than  it  loses. 

Besides  all  this — and  that  might  be  enough  for  one 
generation — Mr.  ITewlin  holds  it  with  all  its  antique 
gatherings. 

This  brew-house  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  British, 
where  red  jackets  associated  and  concocted  plans  to 
reduce  rebellion   to   submission,  and  whence,  too,  they 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  271 

found  it  convenient  to  depart  and  seek  better  protection 
tlian  their  promises  had  performed.  Here,  too,  is  affixed 
the  very  first  trophy  of  Franklin's  discovery  of  conduct- 
ing the  destructive  discharge  of  the  electric  fluid  harm- 
less into  the  earth ;  his  first  lightning  rod  yet  invites  its 
safe  conduit  from  its  birth  to  its  burial,  in  this  building. 

Next  below  was  the  sugar  refinery  of  David  Schaefter, 
the  grandsire  of  the  present  cashier  of  the  Girard  Bank. 
Mr.  Schaefter  was  a  Whig  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
was,  of  course,  a  mark  for  the  vengeance  of  the  enemy ; 
and  they  did  vent  their  opposition  by  destroying  every 
vestige  of  manufacturing  convenience  and  appliance, 
leaving  but  the  bare  walls  and  the  floors  to  advertise 
their  destructive  presence. 

Muhlenberg  &  Schaefter,  and  in  1795,  Morgan,  Douglass, 
&  Schaefter,  afterwards  continued  the  business ;  and  later, 
Piersol  &  Schaefter. 

The  sugar-house  was  on  the  rear  of  Second  Street, 
on  Moravian  Alley,  and  accessible  by  a  four  or  five  feet 
passage,  lettered  on  each  wall,  first,  Muhlenberg  & 
Schaefibr,  and  again,  Piersol  &  Schaefter,  with  a  hand 
pointing  to  the  establishment. 

This  property  is  now  also  a  part  of  the  estate  of  Mr.  R. 
iN^ewlin,  by  purchase,  and  forms  a  part  of  his  extensive 
brewery,  and  increases  his  domains  one  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  in  depth  by  eighty-two  feet  in  width. 

I  do  not,  however,  intend  to  compile  a  directory,  and 
therefore  must  pass  jewellers,  gentlefolks,  and  barristers- 
at-law>,  &c.,  to  pay  our  respects  to  the  memory  of  the 
venerable  Christian  gentleman,  Mr.  John  Aitken,  of  this 
neighborhood,  who  from  conscientious  motives,  although 


272  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCn 

a  poor  man,  positively  refused  to  engrave  the  portrait  of 
Voltaire,  for,  as  lie  said,  an  inMel  book. 

He  was  an  engraver  and  dealer  in  music,  as  was 
advertised  by  bis  implements  and  samples  of  his  handi- 
work, displayed  in  the  small  bulks  at  each  side  of  his 
door.  This  is  the  same  Mr.  Aitken  noted  in  th^  body 
of  this  work. 

He  departed  this  life  on  the  5th  of  September,  1831,  in 
the  87th  year  of  his  age,  a  godly,  righteous,  and  a  sober 
man. 

A  few  doors   below    Mr.  Aitken,   we   have   an   old 

(original)  two-story  frame,  occupied  by  Woodruff 

as  a  grocery  store ;  and  next  below  this  my  old  friend  and 
very  suavitous  neighbor,  Mr.  Burton,  of  No.  66,  in  those 
days,  a  plain,  unsophisticated  old  gentleman,  offering 
his  well-assorted  stock  of  queensware,  without  bore  or 
bolstering,  and  accomplishing  his  purpose  to  a  respect- 
able issue. 

But  now  permit  me  to  present  my  own  debut  in  life's 
busy  theatre,  the  house  and  its  occupants  of  ^o.  64. 

This  was  the  property  and  domicile  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Jay,  a  well-known  physician  of  his  day;  but  immediately 
after  him,  was  the  residence  and  business  place  of  the 
Kev.  Thomas  Dunn. 

Mr.  Dunn  was  a  divine  of  the  Presbyterian  faith,  but 
had  no  pastoral  charge  in  Philadelphia,  save  that  of  an 
occasional  offering  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Tabernacle,  then 
situate  at  the  head  of  Ranstead  Court,  Fourth  below 
Market,  in  the  absence  or  to  the  relief  of  its  proper  pas- 
tor. Dr.  Hay. 

His  secular  calling  was  mercantile,  and  silk  and  satin 
ribbons,  Dunstable  hats,  chip  and  straw  bonnets,  silk  and 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  273 

satin,  morocco  and  kid  skins,  &c.,  were  bought  and  sold 
extensively  at  his  hands. 

His  spring  and  fall  importations  from  England,  were 
generally  passed  off  with  their  season,  and  that  without 
any  garniture  of  his  truthful  yea  and  nay.  "Don't  tell  a 
lie,"  was  his  command;  and  firm  consistency  in  him  was 
the  exemplar,  carrying  out  his  principle,  with  friend  or 
foe.  Thus,  honest  in  all  his  purposes,  he  could  not  be 
beguiled  by  sophistry,  deceit,  or  hypocrisy  ;  and  hence 
his  prompt  repudiation  of  the  unfortunate  malfeasance 
of  Dr.  Hay,  in  his  pastorate,  his  intimate  friend,  but 
whose  specious  defence,  was  not  permitted  to  reach  and 
soil  his  purer  sensibilities ;  and  he  withstood  him  to  the 
face,  and  resisted  him  to  exposure  and  expulsion. 

In  1809,  he  retired  to  Germantown,  where  he  took 
charge  of  the  church  standing  eastward  from  the  mid- 
way or  six  mile  toll-gate ;  but  finally  retired  to  New- 
port, R.  I.,  where  he  deceased,  on  the  15th  of  April,  1833, 
aged  70  years. 

There  must  be  some  amongst  us  yet,  who  in  mental 
retrospect  can  read  the  burden  of  our  window  shutters, 
announcing  Thomas  Dunn,  late  Dunn  &  Bowering,  a  for- 
mer partner  in  New  York,  as  the  vender  of  Dunstables, 
&c.,  as  well  as  a  glimpse  of  the  sunburnt  specimen  of 
flats,  swinging  or  flirting  in  the  wind. 

Next  below,  we  have  the  residence  and  tailor's  trimmings 
establishment  of  Newbury  Smith.  This  was  a  handsome 
and  commodious  three-story  brick  house,  with  private 
entrance,  store  door  and  window  in  the  lower  front.  The 
store  was  small,  but  neat  and  clean  as  a  parlor,  and  always 
in  order. 

The  whole  lot  was  twenty-eight  by  upwards  of  a  hun- 

18 


274  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN    CHURCH 

dred  feet  deep ;  and  tlie  house  being  twenty  feet  front, 
left  a  side  entrance  to  the  rear,  of  eight  feet,  giying  an 
open  view  to  his  prettily  arranged  garden. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  most  even-tempered,  mild  Quaker 
gentleman,  whose  early  industry  and  frugality  ripened  a 
competency  for  the  protection  of  a  frosted  brow,  to  which 
time  and  good  health  passed  him,  and  under  which  he 
enjoyed  the  comforts  of  that  protection  to  a  good  old  age. 

His  was  a  quiet,  peaceable  family ;  children  playful, 
but  noiseless ;  neighborly  kindness  always  free,  which 
none  could  have  experienced  more  than  his  neighbor 
Dunn.  "N'eighbor  Smith,"  "  l^eighbor  Dunn,"  and 
"Neighbor  Burton,"  were  a  familiar  trio,  of  the  most 
kindly  and  respectful  association ;  and  it  is  but  a  small 
tribute  to  their  memory  to  say  so  here,  for  such  may 
safely  be  epitaphed : 

"  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi."' 

Mr.  Smith  departed  this  life  on  the  1st  of  September, 
1848,  aged  87  years. 

The  clumsy  bulk  next  door,  filled  with  German  wares, 
snufi'-boxes,  toys,  sleigh-bells,  Sneeberg  snuif,  and  the 
whims  and  oddities  of  German  invention,  was  in  rusty 
contrast  with  the  domains  of  Mr.  Smith;  but  its  proprietor, 
debutant  in  business-life,  was  remarkable  for  neatness  in 
apparel  and  gentlemanly  deportment.  And  the  reputed 
handsome  German  {Tyroler\  Joseph  Ch.  Sprenger,  lost 
nothing  by  the  temptation  to  a  passing  belle,  as  his  sortie 
caught  the  willing  glance.  • 

Prosperity  took  him  by  the  hand  and  led  him  on  to 
fortune  ;  but  outliving  his  times,  his  tact  and  talent  were 
unequal  to  the  hasty  and  varied  drift  of  business  vicissi- 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  275 

tildes,  and  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  mockery  of  his  former 
ability  for  any  emergency. 

The  tide  that  carried  him  to  the  upper  business  circle  of 
Philadelphia,  and  still  onward  through  the  more  tempting 
streams  of  New  York,  and  yet  onward,  offered  him  ISTew 
Orleans  and  Texas  as  playthings,  as  though  mad  at  its 
patronizing  course,  returned  him  to  its  ebb,  with  unmiti- 
gated force,  to  battle  with  the  overwhelming  ills  of  bank- 
ruptcy; shorn  of  the  power  that  blights  the  scowl  of 
contempt,  or  that  won  the  smile  that  erewhile  greeted 
his  presence. 

Unequal  to  the  reverse,  he  abandoned  the  business 
world,  in  the  spring  of  1840,  and  hid  himself  from  the 
chilling  recognition  of  the  purse-worshipping  throng. 
Shakspeare  says,  "  There  is  a  tide  in  the  aftairs  of  men,  if 
taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune."  True,  very  true  ; 
but  it  too  often  sweeps  him  back  to  misfovtnne,  when  the 
dregs  of  life  are  reached,  and  the  energies  of  body  and 
mind  are  wasted  in  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf. 

Beware  of  this  tide,  young  man ;  and  if  it  carry  jou  to 
its  bounds,  make  fast  your  bark,  stay  proceedings,  and 
thank  God  for  your  footing.     Let  "  well  enough"  alone. 

This  reverse,  however  painful  in  its  disclosure,  is  but  a 
parenthesis  in  Time's  annals,  trulj'  claiming  our  sympa- 
thies, but  also  warning  us  against  the  uncertainty  of 
riches.  "If  they  increase,  set  not  your  heart  upon  them," 
says  the  Psalmist;  and  such  events  are  dark  masses  in 
the  picture  of  life.  There  are,  however,  rainbow  tints  of 
gold  and  purple  in  the  picture,  and  they  relieve  the  sombre 
basis  of  its  background ;  and  such  is  a  tint  before  us,  as 
we  pass  onwards. 

Moses  Bartram,  well  worn  of  time,  yet  an  active  little 


276  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

Quaker  gentleman,  was  a  kindly  available  figurante  of 
our  neighborhood,  and  as  a  dispenser  of  curatives,  gave 
— by  his  pestle  and  mortar — tone,  and  tune,  too,  to  his 
seat  of  customs,  where  medicamente,  at  his  hands,  were 
always  safe  to  the  invalid,  if  not  even  sure  to  his  purpose. 

Nor  were  the  tall  slim  bulks  that  flanked  the  limited 
aperture  to  his  platform,  obnoxious  to  his  popularity, 
or  repulsive  to  his  thrift.  The  spot  that  knew  him, 
knew  him  well ;  seeing  that  he  was  always  there,  under 
Franklin's  motto,  "mind  your  business ;"  and  where  thus 
identified,  the  direction  to  "Moses  Bartram's  apothecary 
shop,  in  Second  near  Arch,"  soon  found  itself  with  the 
prescription  on  his  counter. 

To  all  appearance,  he  passed  Time's  ordeal  without  the 
care  of  much  wealth,  or  the  risk  or  fear  of  bankruptcy ; 
and  shed  his  mortality  under  oriental  tints  of  an  un- 
clouded sunset. 

This  was  a  very  old-fashioned  small  three-story  brick 
house,  of  ancient  date. 

The  corner,  if  not  of  twin  birth,  was  not  far  behind  its 
neighbor  in  character  and  claims  of  respect  for  its  hoary 
bearing. 

It  was  a  two  and  a  half  story  brick,  occupied  by 
Francis  Tete,  a  Frenchman,  and  family;  but,  after  his 
time,  was  supplanted  by  a  full-sized  three-story  brick 
store,  and  occupied,  for  many  years,  as  a  wholesale 
grocery,  by  the  late  Thomas  Keeves,  a  very  clever  man, 
of  happy  mien,  industry,  and  business  capacity,  but  who 
was  called  from  the  busy  scenes  of  this  life,  trustful,  to  a 
better,  before  time  had  passed  him  from  the  coniptoir  to 
the  relish  of  rest  from  the  drudgery  of  continuous 
merchandising. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  277 

!N^ow,  reader,  altliougli  I  do  not  mean  to  cross  tlie 
street,  we  may  look  over  at  the  old  and  well-known 
"  George  Tavern,"  and  scan  the  jolly  Bacchus  swung  from 
the  corner,  high  in  mid  air,  astride  his  keg,  attractive  to 
the  eye,  and,  perhaps,  inducive  to  the  thirst  of  a  passing 
thought,  or  soliloquizing  wight,  on  the  merits  of  a  well- 
edged  beverage. 

As  early  as  1795,  this  was  the  tavern  and  stage-office 
of  Robert  Bicknell,  well  known,  in  those  days,  to 
travellers  to  and  from  New  York  and  Baltimore. 

The  "  George  Tavern,"  as  such,  has  long  since  lost  its 
charms ;  but  the  ancient  pile  is  there,  and  frowns  with 
age  upon  the  youthful  usurpation  of  its  neighboring  soil, 
accompanied  in  its  scowl  by  its  early  contemporary,  at 
the  southeast  corner,  of  antique  structure,  once,  some 
threescore  years  and  more  ago,  owned  and  occupied  by 
Samuel  "Walker,  grocer,  then  a  respectable  and  desirable 
residence,  "in  good  order  and  well  conditioned," — now, 
however,  shredding  to  the  gatherings  of  time  to  darken 
the  clouds  of  oblivion.* 

The  northeast  corner  of  Arch  and  Second  was  certainly 
an  ante-revolutionary  fixture,  but  extant  in  our  time. 

An  old  two-story  red  frame  was  the  burden  of  this 
nook,  but  though  of  humble  bearing,  was  the  soil  of 
richer  growth ;  and,  perhaps,  the  very  nucleus  of  opu- 
lence. 

It  was  of  the  estate  of  William  and  John  Monington, 
conveyed  to  Charles  Moore,  the  grandfather  of  our 
townsman,  the  late  Henry  Pratt,  in  May,  1751,  who 
became  owner  afterward,  and  there  opened  on  the  world 
with  the  sale  of  crockery,  queensware,  and  the  like. 

*  This  building  is  even  now  (June,  1857)  being  supplanted  by  a 
modern  idea. 


278  HISTORY   OF    THE    MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

The  golden  harvest  to  Mr.  Pratt,  in  after  life,  is  a  proud 
triumph  of  industry,  perseverance,  and  good  manners, 
and  a  winning  encouragement  to  patience,  and  a  faithful 
attention  to  business,  by  "he  that  by  the  plough  would 
thrive." 

The  most  of  the  houses  northward  to  Drinker's  Alley, 
hold  up  their  storm-worn  faces,  and  even  yet  contrast 
with  a  very  few  intrusions  of  modern  date ;  there  are, 
however,  incidents  and  personal  associations  that  belong 
to  this  locality. 

It  is  said  that  Talleyrand  de  Perigord,  during  part  of 
his  exile,  kept  a  shop  for  the  sale  of  buttons  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. He  was  at  that  time  very  poor,  and  also  lived 
for  a  time  in  Goddard's  Alley,  above  Vine  Street. 

His  house,  pointed  out  to  me  when  I  was  a  boy,  was 
the  southern  corner  of  an  arched  way  to  certain  back 
stores,  occupied  later  by  Bolton,  as  and  for  a  hatter  shop. 

Passing  Benjamin  Leedom,  merchant,  at  the  opposite 
corner,  we  have  another  terror  to  evil-doers,  under  the 
aldermanic  powers  of  Michael  Hillegas ;  an  incident  of 
whose  times  may  not  be  uninteresting  in  contrast  with 
the  growth  and  perfection  of  science. 

The  mysteries  of  animal  magnetism,  called  poiv-wow- 
ing,  &c.,  were  even  then,  in  1780-1790,  hidden  in  doubt- 
ful disputations ;  yet,  there  were  those  who  felt  its  force, 
and  believed  in  its  virtues,  but  not  possessed  of  scientific 
skill,  would  practise,  but  could  not  fully  perform.  Of 
such,  the  parent  of  your  writer,  then  a  young  man,  was 
one,  the  elder  Samuel  Wetherill  another,  and  a  third, 
not  recollected. 

Doubtful  as  to  the  result  of  their  experiments,  they 
would  try  them,  and  exercising  their  skill  upon  a  3'oung 
female,  put  her  to  sleep,  but  could  not  wake  her  up, 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  279 

which  creatnig  an  alarm,  they  were  arrested,  and  taken 
before  Esquire  Hillegas,  where  innocence  of  harmful 
intention  was  admitted  as  a  plea,  but  threats  of  con- 
dign punishment  for  a  repetition  ended  their  further 
curiosity. 

My  father  was  also  threatened  with  a  suit  for  shocking 
a  man  with  his  electrical  machine,  who  denounced  its 
force  as  the  "black  art,"  after  calling  him  to  the  outside 
of  the  door  to  advise  him  to  abandon  the  association. 

This  man  flew  at  the  shock,  tore  off'  the  connection, 
swore  that  it  had  "lightened,"  ran  down  stairs,  and  did 
not  stop  till  he  was  clear  of  the  front  door,  when  he  re- 
turned and  tapped  at  the  window,  to  make  his  threat, 
and  give  his  advice. 

This  ITo.  90  l!^orth  Second  Street  was  afterwards  the 
residence  of  our  highly  respected  citizen-merchant,  Mr. 
Joseph  Clark,  who  also  occupied  the  back  stores  just 
named,  for  the  storage  of  merchandise.  Mr.  Clark  was 
extensively  engaged  in  the  South  American  trade,  but 
the  uncontrollable  blasts  of  adversity  beat  down  the  bul- 
warks of  his  most  strenuous  exertions,  and  exposed  his 
declining  life  to  the  discomforts  and  inconvenience  of  an 
empty  treasury;  but  despite  all  this,  he  was  no  less 
respectable  after  than  before,  and  yielded  to  the  wise 
providence  of  God,  even  to  the  end  of  life,  with  that 
fortitude  which  was  the  evidence  of  a  "  good  profession, 
before  many  witnesses." 

N"or  can  I  pass  this  gentleman  without  a  compliment- 
ary notice  of  his  kind  and  gentle  housekeeper,  Mrs. 
Carr,  who  served  him  in  that  capacity  for  many  year?, 
and  showed  as  clean  a  front  as  Second  Street  could  boast 
of,  as  well  in  person  as  profession. 

The  Mount  Vernon  House  covers  the  site,  with  some 


280  HISTORY   OF   THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

additions  to  its  breadth,  of  the  late  Philip  S.  Bunting, 
who  removed  there,  from  the  southeast  corner  of  Third 
and  Race  Streets ;  whilst  Elfrith's  Alley  still  shows  up 
the  shoulders  that  erst  marked  the  line  of  this  passage. 

Jeremiah  Elfrith  and  Gilbert,  his  brother-in-law, 

were  proprietors  of  much  of  the  soil  of  this  avenue,  and 
it  bore  the  name  of  Elfrith's,  or  Gilbert's  Alley  for  a 
long  time. 

In  or  about  the  year  1780,  Mr.  Elfrith  was  resident  on 
Second  Street,  about  midway  to  Drinker's  Alley.  His 
house  stood  back,  having  a  garden  or  lawn  in  front ;  the 
lot  was  deep,  and  formed  an  L,  opening  on  to  Elfrith's 
Alley. 

John  Angue  was  no  small  consideration  to  the  epicure, 
in  "iVbi/att"  ^^  Parfait  Amour,'"  ^^  Anise,"  and  the  various 
oozings  of  a  scientific  distillery. 

He  was  a  popular  French  gentleman,  and  his  very 
relishable  emollients  passed  and  extended  his  popularity 
through  many  and  various  circles  of  the  beau  monde. 

Although  he,  and  his  nephew  successor,  recently 
ofiering  the  same  temptations,  at  old  No.  30,  North 
Third  Street,  have  long  since  passed  to  the  monumental 
mound,  the  full-sized  senior,  with  his  snufl-box  in  hand, 
will  doubtless  be  fresh  in  the  minds  of  many  of  the  con- 
temporaries of  his  day, — about  the  year  1800,  and  for 
some  years  after. 

The  southeast  corner  of  Drinker's  Alley  was  rebuilt, 
many  years  ago,  with  its  present  first  class  two-story 
brick  house,  by  Isaac  Hazlehurst,  Esq.,  for  a  residence ; 
having  his  counting-house  a  short  way  down  the  alley. 

John  Jacob  Sommer,  of  Race  Street,  having  married, 
afterwards  became  the  occupant  of  these  premises,  and 
held  them  for  many  years. 


-    IN   PHILADELPHIA.  281 

But  here  I  must  cease  my  wanderings,  my  bounds 
being  already  overleapt ;  but  my  plan,  more  extensively 
carried  out,  I  trust  will  not  be  the  less  acceptable. 

Time,  fancy,  and  circumstances  have  changed  the  face 
of  this  circuit ;  and  recollection  and  tradition  unite  with 
data  to  portray  the  review  of  "the  things  that  were." 

But  the  wisdom  of  our  city  fathers  has  done  even  more 
to  efface  the  vestiges  of  the  olden  time ;  and,  ere  long, 
there  will  not  be  a  single  number  to  locate  a  venerated 
spot,  reminiscent  of  the  social  or  business  doings  of  our 
early  fathers ;  nor  can  I  conceive  of  any  plan  to  preserve 
this  important  directory  of  ancient  landmarks. 

Useless,  however,  as  it  may  seem,  whatever  numbers  I 
have  given,  are  original  numbers,  and  are  traceable  by 
description  or  comparison. 

But,  it  is  as  useless  to  quarrel  with  the  march  of 
improvement.  It  will  ride  roughshod  over  every  sacred 
tie  of  preceding  existence.  Even  the  very  names  of  our 
streets  have  fallen  a  prey  to  a  thirst  for  fame  or  immor- 
talization, whilst  the  renumbering  even  now  confuses 
confusion,  and,  in  time  to  come,  will  so  confound 
identity,  that  old  Philadelphia  will  be  a  stranger  to  itself. 

But  I  have  done,  and  my  part — ^liowever  limited — of 
protective  recollections,  and  historical  as  well  as  social 
links,  is  before  you. 

My  authorities  are  venerable,  truthful,  and  reliable, 
whilst  my  own  observation  is  ably  and  respectably  sup- 
ported, and  warrants  me  in  offering  the  volume  for  a 
modicum  of  the  kindly  considerations  of  the  lovers  of 
historical  gatherings. 

THE    END. 


ERRATA. 


p.  142. — 4th  line  from  the  top,  for  "saving,"  read  "  seeing." 
P.  239. — In  foot-note,  read  "  Sarah  Quary,"  instead  of  "Sarah  Quarry." 
P.  243. — Read  the  last  paragraph,  "  This  corner,"  &c.,  in  connection  with  the  foot-note, 
P.  266. — 13th  line  from  the  top,  for  "Rifferts  and  Burkhardt,"  read  "Rifferts  and 
Burchartz." 
"  2d  line  from  the  bottom,  for  "John  Stow,  tinner,"  read  ''John  Stow,  turner."' 

P.  272. — 11th  line  from  the  bottom,  for  '■  Jay,"  read  "  Say." 
On  Plate,  "  Church  and  Parsonage,"  instead  of  '•  Race  Street,"  in  brackets,  read  ''  Bread 

Street." 
On  Plate,   "  Church  of  1820,"    instead  of  "  (now  Race  Street)  and  Race  Street,"  read 

"  now  Bread  and  Race  Streets." 


Date  Due 


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